Screaming at the Sky
by Don'tBeLame
Summary: The time is nearing for the graduation of the 104th Training Corps; some are well prepared for their next step forward in the Military, others, perhaps not so. Janice Robin finds herself alongside Eren Yeager as he confidently moves forward to take back their world for humanity. She could care less about his crusade, however; revenge for her family is far more simple a task.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This story is a request by Shiranai Atsune, and begins roughly two weeks before the graduation of the 104** **th** **Trainee Corps. The story will seem familiar, though the focus during these early events of Attack on Titan will shift from beyond what we are shown in the manga and the anime; the story as well, will strongly depart from the canon in the coming chapters. Hope this provides a good and enjoyable read about what could have happened if the story of Attack on Titan took a substantially different turn.**

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"You wanted to see me, instructor?"

"Yes, Robin, take a seat."

She did so.

"As you know, evaluations aren't until the end of the week… "

 _If I knew, then why the fuck would you bother telling me anyway._

"Yes, sir."

"But I wanted to do yours, among a few others, earlier than normal."

She said nothing as he opened the door to his desk, drawing out some documentation. This meant very little; she already about knew what she was going to hear.

"Excellent marks, both in the classroom and out of. Particularly adept with the 3-D maneuver gear. Even been giving Ackerman a run for her money on the time trials for the last month or so."

Hands clasped in her lap, she made no remark in response to what was the closest she had ever heard Instructor Shadis come to giving praise.

"Unless something drastic changes within the next two weeks before graduation, I see you placing somewhere between twelfth and twentieth on the final ranking. Respectable to be sure."

He seemed to speak with finality then, and she wondered if that was all there was, but he didn't dismiss her. His gaze locked on the desk in front of him, before he looked to her with a tired look in his eyes.

"When I went through the lines of you trainees on day one, I could have very readily told you that someone like Yeager aimed to take back the walls or die trying, the same way I could have very readily told you that someone like Kirschstein wanted to stay as far away from titans as possible."

 _I really hope you're not going to compare me to either of those egotists._

"You on the other hand took a lot longer to figure out."

He paused in talking again and then sighed out his nose.

"You have a singular drive, Robin, I can see that. You want to kill titans. That is your only goal, and don't try to tell me otherwise."

 _Do I look like I'm going to?_

"I've seen that kind of person before, we get them all the time, kids with enough hatred to drive them to join the military just to get a chance to cut up some titans."

She shifted very subtly in her seat.

"Fair enough. But as a result of watching you throughout all your training, I hesitate to pass you, despite your tremendous marks."

Her heart jumped to her throat,

 _What?_

She hadn't come into this room expecting to defend herself, but the time was now.

"Sir, if this is about my lack of communication and teamwork… "

He looked to come very close to smiling.

"Hardly, Robin, don't you think that if I was getting on people for lacking in teamwork, Leonhardt would have beat you in here?"

For the first time in months, real anxiety began to grip at her insides.

 _You will not deny me this, don't you dare fucking deny me this…_

"It isn't something you lack that makes me hesitate. Rather, it's something you possess."

Blinking, she watched him as passively as she could; he leaned in.

"You are reckless."

Immediately, she began dredging her mind for ways to refute this assessment, but he continued before she could even open her mouth.

"I've seen the way you handle yourself off the ground. You spot titan dummies faster than anyone, and are normally the first to initiate a strike on them. But never, have I ever seen you regard anything but your blades and the titan dummy you want to drive them thru."

"With all due respect, sir, I simply focus on that what… "

"Focus is exactly your problem. I don't doubt your skill, nor your aspirations. But I fear that if I pass you, your first trip beyond the walls will wind up with plenty of dead titans and you lying among them."

 _Why the hell do you care, you damn…_

"Don't take this the wrong way Robin, but I would much rather anyone else be placed in the scout regiment than you."

He stood, and she did as well, surprised by his abrupt ending of their meeting.

"Because if there were marks for self-preservation, you would be pretty low on the list."

Returning the papers to his drawer, he gave her a last imperious look.

"I will pass you, cadet. But I only ask that you take a long look at yourself in the mirror and decide if this is really how you want to live."

Saluting, she turned on her heel and departed as he returned to the matters that had pressed him beforehand. Allowing a gently sneer to grace her mouth when she was out of sight, Janice Robin shook her head.

 _You don't get it, Shadis. No one ever has._

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"This is RIDICULOUS, Armin!"

Hours of sitting and reading what appeared to be pointless jargon, sent him over the edge.

"Just power through it, Eren, only a few more days before the exam and then… "

"Why the HELL are they testing us on this nonsense?! The only ones who should have to learn this crap are the imbeciles filing into the garrison… "

"Eren, we all need to learn this, no matter where we're stationed, you never know when you'll be called to fill in for a role you didn't sign up for… "

Eren Yeager rolled onto his back, staring up at the roof of the men's barracks and blew out a long sigh.

"We shouldn't have to… "

Armin closed his book and crossed his legs, looking with restrained annoyance at his friend's antics; Eren knew what a pain in the ass he could be, especially when it came to matters that aggravated him more than others. But he still couldn't help but curse the textbook in front of him that dealt with "civilian interaction" in the military. He was going to join the Survey Corps, he was going to slaughter as many titans as he was physically capable of, and he was going to reclaim the walls for humanity and beyond.

And this damn sure wasn't bringing him any closer to achieving that goal.

Restlessness drove him to roll back over and spring to his feet, smell of the wooden floor, walls and roof filling his nostrils. The day was still young enough that there was still time for something more stimulating than these absurd studies. Walking quickly to the door, he stepped out and took a long whiff of the outdoors; behind him, he heard Armin rise as well to stride up beside him.

"Eren?"

He spoke without looking back, the blue sky and white clouds beckoning for him to reach for them.

"When's our next class?"

"In about an hour and a half, as soon as the girls are done with their conduct class, we all have one of our last hand to hand lessons."

"So… "

Letting the stupid adventurous smile that always worried Armin and Mikasa cross onto his face, Eren walked down the steps, feet hitting the dirt in stride and kicking up brown and grey clouds. Armin closed the door and ran up alongside him, anxiously following up to his ambiguous last word.

"So what?"

"So I doubt Shadis will be keeping an eye on the training gear."

A familiar groan from next to him only further spurred his newfound determination.

"Eren… if you get caught messing around with the 3-D maneuver gear again… "

Another lecture of one of his two friends, or parents as they had become since they had all enlisted. Clenching a fist, Eren tried not to get angry; he knew his friends only were looking out for his best interests…

 _Though Mikasa seems more intent on just being overbearing more than anything._

… but that didn't make it any less obnoxious when they treated him like a six year old. Within the next several weeks, his plan was to be wearing the jungle green uniform that he had been working so hard to reach. Then, he could hopefully steer himself far enough away from the two of them, and hopefully they would find someone else to worry over. But, for now, he just had to cope with all the misgivings that came with the life he had chosen.

"I'm not messing around with it. I'm TRAINING with it. Isn't that the point of why we're here?"

"I really don't think this is a good idea, not when we're so close to our last day… "

Eren laughed and broke into a jog.

"All the more reason to go for it. How many more opportunities like this are we going to have?"

He didn't wait for an answer and instead broke into a full run, because he knew without looking that Armin was right behind him.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"Hey, Mikasa!"

Knowing it was coming, Mikasa slowed her pace ever so slightly to allow Mina to catch up to her. On her left, Annie snorted as she shouldered her books; on her right, pushing through the throng of girls exiting the building, Mina pulled up alongside her, practically tugging on her sleeve.

"I'm really sorry to bother you like this… "

"It's alright."

Nor was it the first time. Mikasa had only ever strove to perform to the best of her abilities and had been surprised, not at how much she excelled, but how far beyond the rest of her class she had gone. This had attracted a good deal of attention and, unfortunately, admiration.

"I know you normally pair with Eren for maneuvering practice… but I was wondering if tomorrow morning, you would be willing to pair with me? At least for the first hour."

Mikasa didn't say anything, not because she was leaning towards Mina down, but rather because she was worried that if she gave Mina special treatment, others what start to get the same idea.

"Not for the whole morning, I just would really like to get some pointers, just follow along and try and get a feel for how you… "

"Alright."

Her face seemed to brighten infinitely.

"Really?!"

"Yes."

"Wait, wait, wait, how come you'll pair with her, but not me?"

Closing her eyes, Mikasa didn't slow her stride as Sasha came squeezing between her and Annie; the blonde grimaced and shoved her in response.

"Because she probably needs more help than you if she wants to pull off her final exam, Sash."

Mikasa was grateful that Krista spoke for her; Sasha made a huffy face, but said nothing more. As the group continued walking back towards the dorm, Ymir came up to join them; Krista gave her a disapproving look.

"You skipped again."

Rolling her eyes, Ymir wrapped her arm around the blonde with the same playfulness she always did.

"Please. Like I really need a lecture on the fact that I have a vagina, not a dick, and am in the military."

Krista punched her, while blushing.

"Ymir!"

She laughed and turned her gaze to Mikasa.

"Hey, you know where your boyfriend's been?"

It became her turn to blush.

"No. And he's not my… "

"Alright, well, somebody reported a set of 3-D maneuver gear stolen... I'm sure you know where I'm going with this."

As concern took over, Mikasa lowered her head so no one could see her smile.

 _I'm sure I do._

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Janice let Cedric pummel her raised arms for several seconds, ignoring the throbbing pain as well as the clear frustration on his face before stepping forward and to the right; he whiffed a swing at her and she caught his extended arm. Kicking at his ankles she held onto him as he crashed to the ground and gasped in pain. Grunting, he pushed himself into a sitting position and looked at her in annoyance.

"Goddammit Jan, you know that the goal here is to subdue the attacker without getting hit?"

Shrugging apathetically, she glanced around uncaring at the countless sparring pairs that surrounded them before swiping some of her errant black hair across her face.

"What does it matter as long as the goal achieved?"

Wincing, he pulled himself to his feet; she watched him through bored eyes as he continued his short-winded lecture.

"It matters because if any of the instructors spot you, or pair you with someone who isn't as forgiving as I am, you could land yourself some shitty chores or worse."

"Cute, but I don't need the advice."

An open smile crossed onto his face.

"I'm only trying to help."

 _Of-fucking-course you are._

Everyone was just trying to help, by getting in her way, trying to make her abide by whatever stupid constructs they followed, and ultimately just try and drag her along a path other than the one of her choosing. She didn't need it, and she sure as hell had never asked for it.

"Your turn."

He sighed as he realized that he wasn't getting anywhere, but he fortunately didn't pursue the topic. Instead, he adopted a defensive position and nodded to her; less than two seconds later, she had him on the ground again, groaning over the fresh bruises on his ribs and back.

"I don't suppose I ever had a chance of beating you there… "

Janice ignored his comment and looked instead towards the sun as it dipped towards the horizon, trying to force her will upon it in order to make it set faster. As usual, it continued to deny her wishes and hovered in the sky like a mocking glowing smile; she resisted the temptation to raise her middle finger in its direction. Cedric stumped up beside her.

"Ever wonder how many more times you'll get to see the sun?"

Her annoyance with his meaningless existential question almost came out, but she refrained from addressing his naivety; Cedric was a good person, a more intense version of Marco, perhaps. That, and he was one of the few who had done their best to be nice to her, her unfriendly and unwelcoming demeanor aside; she believed him to be far too caring for his own good. He continued talking, eyes glazing over, and she fought down rolling her own.

"I don't know where I'm going after this, Survey Corps or Garrison. I just know I want to do something that matters."

 _Unless you think your death will matter, or meandering the streets as another number on a roster, you're in the wrong place for that._

"You think the military is the right place for that?"

She was surprised by the sincerity of her own question and realized she wasn't talking to him. He gave a curious laugh.

"I don't know. Figure it's a good place to start. That Yeager… "

Cedric looked past several pairs to see Eren once again slammed by Annie, and watched him stagger his way back up again.

"… he clearly has his priorities set."

Janice looked at him with stifled confusion.

"Then why do you look so happy about not knowing what you're doing?"

His stupid smile persisted.

"I guess I'm just excited to see what the future holds."

She looked into his eyes for several seconds, waiting for him to call it a joke, but he didn't, simply looked forward. For the briefest moment, she wanted to shout at him, call him an idiot, for throwing his life at something he didn't understand. Then she remembered her mother saying the same thing to her, what seemed like forever ago.

And that made it much easier to keep her mouth closed.


	2. Chapter 2

As he tore through them, one by one, piece by piece, his mind still held the mental image of Armin. Panicked face, wide eyes, reaching out to grab him before the two walls of teeth snapped shut around his arm and sent him plummeting down the titan's gullet.

 _Bastards… fucking monsters…_

He knew he was dying, and this must have been a last dream. It was a glorious one at that; he was as large as any of them, quicker and stronger as well. Rage led him to stampede through titan after titan, punching, biting, kicking, doing anything he could to dismember them to the point of no return.

And he could still see Armin's face.

He regretted then, leading his friend into this. Mikasa was more than capable of handling herself in situations like this, but Armin had only joined them in enlisting to remain with the only two friends he had ever known. Who knew if he had escaped after the titan had swallowed Eren? It was surely possible, the district was so overrun, even those soldiers with vertical maneuvering gear could be snuffed within an instant. That was why, as he lived this realistic dream, this final slice of ecstasy and carnage, he made sure to crush every titan his mind generated.

 _I thought… I thought I could kill them. Make a difference._

How stupid he had been. Jean very well may have been right the whole time. Was it worth trying to score victories against the abominations when there really was no hope to be found in doing so? Was it better just trying to preserve one's self and live as good a life as you could with the time you had? As these questions slithered through the remnants of his consciousness, Armin's face dissolved and became that of his mother's, reaching for him one last time, crying and screaming.

The next titan's head he hit exploded from the force his fist exerted.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The titan's hand smashed into the building's roof with enough force that, when it missed Janice's nimble form completely, the mere motion of it pulling its hand free of the crater it had made sent debris flying dangerously in every direction. Her previous blades having been shattered by the act of driving them into the roof to slow herself down enough to not go flying into the numerous seven-meter classes below, she drew a fresh pair and settled herself in a readied stance. Deceptively slow, it pulled its gruesome head back and turned to regard her with empty eyes; ignoring the screams, cannonfire, and sounds of collapsing architecture that seemed to come from every side, Janice watched the monstrosity, unblinking.

"Move, then."

Its other arm came whipping to pummel the entire untouched section of the roof, but by the time its arm had laid the area to ruin, she was already gone. The titan didn't even have time to try and reassess her location before her blades carved it into a subdued hulk. Touching down on top of its body as it came to rest on the ground with a thunderous crash, she blew a strand of hair from her eye and looked around, trying to quell the incredible rush that she had been feeling for the better part of the day,

The district was in chaos, and she would have been amazed if it had been in anything less. She hadn't seen the Colossal type as had been the information relayed by many a screaming and panicked cadet, one of whom she had decked for failing to speak clearly, but the fresh gaping hole through which titans seemed to be pouring was more than enough reason for her to believe these reports. Janice's heart had started pounding with the rest of those in that moment, but hers didn't beat with the terror that surely ran with her all her fellow soldiers; hers began to thunder with anticipation.

 _Finally._

As her final spot during placement had been sixteen, she had known she would be called upon to remain and watch over evacuation with the rest of the most skilled trainees; she would rather be shot for treason then be stuck alongside Ackerman and the other stick-in-the-mud elites. By purposefully hiding out during roll call, she had slipped in one of the obvious titan fodder teams, whose jobs were to distract and kill titans while evacuation of the district was carried out.

 _Distract, nothing._

This had been the fourth titan she had brought down and her logistical side already knew this was bad; the heightened rush she felt for dragging her blades through the nape of a titan's neck was the closest she had come to experiencing ecstasy in her entire life.

It WAS ecstasy.

Booming footsteps caused her to turn from the nearby roof she had touched down upon; another hulking brute was plodding its way towards her, making its way slowly down the empty street. She took note of the shortness of its arms and legs which, conjoined with its long torso, allowed for a good deal of safety while engaging it. Giving her blades a quick glance to pass them for combat-ready, she slowly began walking along the rooftop towards it.

"CADET!"

The single word was barked as a garrison captain shot by, stopping on a tower to shout at her.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING SO FAR FROM THE BREACH?! THESE TITANS ARE OF THE LEAST CONCERN, THEY HARDLY POSE A THREAT COMPARED TO THE ONES HEADING TOWARDS THE EVAC SITE!"

He was indeed right, but Janice had no intention of letting anyone tell her she couldn't have this; she had been waiting years for this opportunity. Ignoring his words, she continued walking towards the titan and it towards her; he bellowed something else at her that could have been a threat, but she again paid him no mind and, with a curse, he shot off.

She placed her sole focus on the titan now, and took deep breaths to steady herself, not from fear or panic, but from deep rooted anticipation. The moment it came close enough to reach for her, she kicked off; this time, she would try more than simply killing it.

 _How much can you take… ?_

Her blades pulled through the meat of its shoulder like butter, and she nearly gasped with the feeling of the blood that spouted from the wound to splatter her upper body. It was hot, almost to the point of being agonizing, but it began to immediately evaporate as she shot away past its neck. A new wave of excitement ran through her gut as she realized how free she was to do to this titan whatever she wanted. It was a freedom she hadn't been prepared to be confronted with, but it was a freedom that she was more than ready to accept.

A minute or so passed before Janice found herself nearly out of things to slice at; she latched her tethers to the side of a church steeple, breathing heavily and feeling the weight of the blood that had thoroughly soaked her clothes.

 _Yes… yes…_

The titan lay in more pieces than she could count, chunks of its arms and upper body lay scattered along the neighboring rooftops. The rest of it littered the streets below, piece of a leg there, bits of its guts there, a chunk of its jaw there. At some point, her blades had slashed its nape and it had ceased its regenerating; as she wiped her brow, she doubted that even that ability would have saved her.

"JAN!"

Hearing her nickname, the roaring of blood in her ears died by a tremendous amount and she jerkily moved her head to face where the voice had come from. Cedric had just finished making his way over the roofs that separated them and touched down just next to her. He looked both shaken and relieved.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?! I found everyone else in our squad who made it, but no one had seen you, no one had heard you sound off during roll call, I had to ask a hundred different officers until I found one who had said that he had seen someone who looked like you off by herself after she had defied orders. I got permission as quick as I could to… "

He stopped talking abruptly and she looked to him. His gaze was flicking between her and the remnants of the titan as quickly as a hummingbird between flowers, and she slowly watched his relieved look darken in worry.

"What happened?"

Swallowing, she gestured ahead of her and then raised her blades tellingly, but found she couldn't speak. Her heart was still racing with all the fury that she had pent up inside of her and it was all she could to keep herself from jetting off to find another titan.

"What are you doing out here?"

Careful accusation had slipped into his voice, and Janice felt herself start to scowl.

 _Who the fuck do you think you are, trying to judge me? You have no goddamn idea what I've lost, why I chose to enlist, I could give less of a shit what you think about…_

"You came out here for you, didn't you? No one ordered you to… "

"So what?"

She didn't let any of the derision she was feeling drop into her voice, but her response was curt and emotionless, enough to cause him to recoil gently.

"Jan, you're one of us. We've been overseeing evac and luring away titans for hours and you… what the HELL are you doing out here?"

Not even bothering to look at him, she continued to stare down at the monster she had dispatched, feeling the rush she had felt begin to slide away.

"Why do you care?"

He came as close as he she had ever heard to sounding angry.

"You're my friend!"

 _Friend, right._

Janice was well aware that she had no friends, and she didn't want any as was; Cedric, in true form, was letting his emotions dictate his words and his actions. She hated that.

"You didn't come to find me because of that."

"Not just, no. You're the best in our squad."

Another obnoxious factor that had been imposed on her: being forced to pair with the incapables who had no business being in the military, let alone graduating.

 _Why are people so eager to die for something they don't understand?_

Cedric rambled on, voice starting to grow somewhat desperate as she didn't so much as pay him a single glance.

"We NEED you back there. THEY needed you back there… "

He drifted off and she cast an annoyed glance at him.

"What are you talking about?"

For several seconds, he didn't reply, and she thought he wasn't going to. Then, he looked at her with the same eyes a child gives a parent when they felt they had been unjustly punished.

"Maya, Peter and Otto are dead."

Her breath caught in her throat and her brow furrowed. The five words he had spoken froze her to the core; the steaming blood that covered her body did nothing to stop this, as a chill ran through her body.

"What?"

It became his turn to look away as she stared at the side of his head.

"We… Peter saw Eren take his squad and push right at the first line of titans from the side we were covering. He tried leading the rest of us along with them, but… they all were killed and I had to take command after Peter got bit out of the air by an aberrant."

"Eren's squad is… gone?"

"Every member, save for Arlert."

"How did… how was that shrimp the only… "

She spoke of Armin, but her mind was fixated only on Eren. Janice had been watching him since the first day she had saw him square up against Jean, gushing about his desire to take back land from the titans, and lead humanity to victory. She had scoffed silently at his dramatic words and the awed looks the more impressionable cadets gave his speeches, but months later, she had found herself finding his resolve… endearing. He wasn't like the fresh recruits, filled with an angry fire that died within weeks before they quietly departed the ranks of their fellow trainees. Eren's fire seemed to be everlasting, and so bright that everything he put his heart into could be conquered; that determination was something she realized she admired, even if his overly emotional approach was something she found personally deplorable. And now… during the 104th's first encounter with titans, he was dead. He, his squad, and half of Janice's own.

"You were our best titan combatant, so we had to make do to keep the evacuation alive. Even with us airing on the side of caution, Maya and Otto both went down after only minutes."

To her surprise, he turned away and made to depart.

"Not that you would care."

And with the familiar burst of compressed gas, Cedric was gone, back over the buildings without even a glance behind her. Janice took a moment to look down at her blades which had dulled significantly, before ejecting them and listening to them clatter against the street below. She realized her gas had significantly depleted as well, and it struck her that she hadn't a clue how long she had been there.

 _They died… because… because I finally got what I wanted._

As she stared blankly at the half-disintegrated remains below her, she wondered what it was she had wanted in the first place.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

 _Eren is dead._

The words continued to slam against Mikasa's mind, but something was keeping them from registering.

 _Eren is dead._

The handles of her blades felt foreign in her hands and the weight of her gear felt as though it had tripled; the very sky itself seemed to be pressing its immense weight on her shoulders.

 _Eren is dead._

She heard the words she spoke as she reprimanded her fellow cadets, cursing them for cowards and wanting to say even worse. She felt herself draw a pair of blades and turn heel, breaking into a sprint before the precious supply of gas she still had left launched her back over the bloodied streets. The world raced by, fleeting and infinite.

 _Eren is dead._

She felt the tension of the handles against her palms as she sliced away at the titans that tried to impede her progress and she felt the cold wind against her face. But none of these things seemed to matter.

 _Eren is dead._

She heard someone shouting her name, telling her she was using too much gas, but it didn't matter. Mikasa knew that there was no point in trying to survive, there was not point trying to go on without him.

 _Eren is dead._

A titan lunged for her legs from a leveled rooftop, and she twisted around, carving its nape. On and on she went, not sure at all of her direction. Her comrades surely were filled with hope as they drew nearer and nearer to the destination that they thought would grant them salvation, if only momentarily. Mikasa couldn't have cared less by that point, no matter where she went, where she could have gone, nothing would grant her salvation of her own.

The gas emitting from her gear gave a final loud hiss before emptying and sending her plummeting. Armin screamed something, but she paid it no mind. Nothing mattered anymore, after all.


	3. Chapter 3

Rocketing along under the grey clouds and upset sky, Janice was running out of words to curse herself with. It had been easy enough at first, but as the minute or so passed with which she needed to return to the true fray, insults had started to fail her. She cast her gaze around continuously, trying to locate Cedric, or really anyone from any squad.

Someone who was alive, at least.

The bits of body had been rare at first, an arm or leg lying without an owner on a roof or street below her, but as she had neared the epicenter of the conflict, they had started to grow in frequency, so much so that she had needed to avert her gaze. Not due to any nausea over the brutality of it, but due to the growing wonderment of how many of these deaths she could have prevented, had she not been pursuing her own goals. Closing her eyes, she grit her teeth.

 _I could have at least died for one of them._

"WATCH IT!"

Eyes snapping open, she corrected her course just quickly enough to avoid colliding with Connie Springer, who left a vile curse in his wake, directed at her. She stared after him, before realizing he wasn't alone; dozens of cadets seemed to be shooting along the rooftops, perpendicular to her travels. Feeling a rush of gratitude that it looked as though so many had survived, she changed direction to join their number; casting her gaze around as she streaked along with them, she saw another familiar face and pulled herself alongside him.

"Arlert!"

The blonde turned his head to regard her as though she had briefly become some sort of monster. Then, recognition mixed with the panic already written on his face, a panic that Janice found all too familiar.

"Janice! We thought you had ditched out on us."

Blinking, she glared at him.

"What? Why?"

"Cedric mentioned he had found you off by yourself, doing your own thing. Said that he shouldn't have been surprised, but that you weren't going to be any help."

Feeling frustration mount in her gut that was directed just as much at herself as Cedric, she shook free of her grudging. That could be settled later.

"What's going on?"

"Evacuation went mostly as planned, but we've… lost a lot of people. We're all that's left."

His face, she realized, still reflected the shock of whatever he had witnessed, and she noticed his words were considerably jerky. She then remembered that he was the sole survivor of his squad, and she moved to not let that overwhelm his thoughts.

"So now?"

"We're heading to headquarters, it's our last chance. We don't have the gas nor the numbers to make another attempt at this… "

If possible, his gaze darkened even further.

"… if this fails… we're all done for."

He spoke with a pessimism that she couldn't ever recall hearing in it. During classes, during exercises, during anything, he always spoke with a nervousness, but optimism that she could only assume came from being in such close proximity to Eren for so long. Armin always stood a fair chance of being mocked or ridiculed as one of the weaker cadets, but that had never stopped him from trying his damnedest in everything he did. To hear the grief and defeat echoing in his voice now was almost enough to give Janice real pause.

Almost.

Turning her gaze forward, she scanned as far ahead as she could see.

"Who's leading this, someone with enough skill would have to unless… "

She saw her then, cutting through regular titans as easily if they were the dummies they had spent so many hours practicing on. Mikasa was of course the only one who could have been leading such a desperate charge so successfully. That aside, the movements of the girl ahead of her didn't seem… like her.

"Is she alright?"

Armin didn't reply, and while his eyes were too locked on her, he seemed to be watching her with… anger? That couldn't have been right. Janice opened her mouth to ask again, but as she watched, Mikasa's gas canisters gave an empty, chilling hiss, audible from even that distance and her body went dropping out of sight. She knew then what had happened, why the girl had been fighting so unrestrainedly; she hadn't been planning on surviving. It seemed to be a far stretch to make that conclusion, but Janice had a single point of evidence that directed her to that conclusion.

Mikasa had been fighting like her.

Turning her head to look at Armin, she saw the surprise at what he had seen written on his face, but as they neared the point where she had fallen, he didn't even begin to move in that direction. Not a single cadet had, not one single person had deterred from their path to try and help their fallen leader. She would have been furious, if that had been like her.

"We have to go see if she's okay."

She told herself as much as Armin, confirming her own knowing that she couldn't allow anyone else to die on her watch, at least not without a fight. He swallowed, before nodding mechanically; she wanted to shout at him for his lack of concern, but emotions would get her nowhere. Not even bothering to see if he was following, she banked hard to her right and began to descend towards the alleyway where she guessed that Mikasa had landed.

 _Just couldn't be anyone else…_

Of all the people she had to stick her neck out to try and save, of course it had to be her, the girl who had been naught but a nuisance to Janice since day one of training. Raising the bar for the rest of them, exemplifying the idea of a perfect student, never smiling, never laughing, she would have been a mirror reflection of Janice if she hadn't been so disgustingly perfect. But none of that mattered, none of that deserved to matter; now, she was a soldier, one who was presently vulnerable and who very likely needed help.

 _That aside… with Eren dead, she may not want saving._

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

He knew her.

By this point, Eren had long since ceased remembering much of anything beyond his own unbridled hate, but as he looked down onto the street where the girl stood, roaring at the titan ahead of her, he realized he knew her. She was incredibly familiar, so much so that he stopped moving for the briefest instance to regard her as she stood defiantly with her shattered blade. It was a curious thing, he thought, as he tilted his head; this dream, while seeming as real as any waking moment he had ever experienced, was playing with more than just his perception of reality. It was screwing with his very memory itself.

Is that what it's like to die? You lose your memories?

It was a stupid question, one so stupid that he felt furious with himself for pondering it. Then, his gaze returned forward and he watched the titan stare down at the same girl, disgusting smile stretched across its face. As it reached for her, he remembered what he had been doing for the past several minutes, and stood still for a single second longer, bemused as to why he had stopped. Stomping forward, making sure his feet missed the girl, he drew back and slammed the titan with a fist and sending it to the ground. As it lay there, staring up at him with those unfeeling, unthinking eyes, hate blazed through him once more and he began to stomp on it with every bit of force he could muster. Each hit sent a fresh wave of satisfaction through his form and he found himself wondering, if dying granted him this, why he had never chosen an early death in general.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Mikasa stared in complete disbelief at what was transpiring in front of her. She had seen the titan in front of her, and she had heard the one behind her, and she had been ready to die fighting either or both of them. Then, she had felt the rush, heard the roar and the one behind her had leapt over her and was presently stomping on every available bit of the other titan it could reach. Its eyes danced with fire, teeth bared in an ever-present snarl, fists clenched like hammers. It was unlike anything she could have ever imagined seeing, and she found herself wondering if she had simply died, and this was nothing more than a fever dream her mind had concocted in its last moments.

"Ackerman, let's move."

A hand wrapped itself around her midsection and began to pull her back; she didn't resist, but she didn't comply either, her attention was far too diverted to give reason to do either.

"Hey, the streets aren't safe! We need to get you to… "

She recognized the voice as it abruptly cut itself off. Janice Robin had never been one to speak up in any case, but during the rare occasion she was called upon in class or otherwise, her low, chilling voice was one to leave an impression, and it was this voice that Mikasa heard now.

"What the fuck… "

There was a pause as Mikasa knew Janice had just noticed the same spectacle that had her so transfixed, though it wore off significantly quicker.

"Alright. C'MON!"

Not willing to wait any longer than she already had, she lifted Mikasa with her free arm and latched onto the building to their right, taking them both up towards the roof.

"Janice!"

Mikasa turned to see Armin running along the rooftop, waving at them; with a slightly clumsy landing due to the added weight, they both touched down next to him.

"Stupid girl, just standing there… "

Janice paced away, cursing flatly under her breath while Armin ran past her.

"Mikasa, are you alright?"

Nodding, she straightened uneasily and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine, fairly soft landing."

Within an instant of her reply, he was blubbering madly, words spilling out of him as quickly as he could generate them, and she knew he had wanted to say them before.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I couldn't do anything, I couldn't, I wanted to, but I couldn't, he trusted me and I let him down, I let you both down, it should have been me, I didn't want to… "

"Armin."

He cut himself off as she spoke and she put her other hand on his opposite shoulder.

"Eren did what he did, regardless of the outcome. I don't blame you for that, and you shouldn't either."

"I still didn't… "

"Stop. He wouldn't want either of us to act rashly based on what he did."

Janice's voice cracked like a whip behind her.

"Yeah, flying along like you had all the gas in the world, on some damn suicide trip certainly wouldn't qualify."

As it normally was when she spoke, no emotion was evidently raw, but it was still something that jabbed a needle against the back of Mikasa's consciousness. She rotated on her feel slowly to regard the young woman who had saved her. It was like staring at a clone of Annie, albeit one with hair as black as hers and a way with words to involuntarily cause her blood to begin to boil.

"Something you need to say, Robin?"

The girl gave a half-smirk that was laced with derision.

"Just did. Can't imagine why it would have broken you up so much, I doubt Eren would have been one to pursue a relationship with ANYBODY, let alone a girl who follows him like a dog… "

The words were cold and hit Mikasa in the one place that could have triggered her emotions.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

Janice walked by her, shouldering her as she did as she looked off towards the headquarters building.

"Hardly matters if I do, all that does is that you were so hell-bent a moment ago to get yourself killed that you led every single other cadet in a practical suicide charge, with no regard for what would happen to them as long as you went out in a blaze of glory."

She turned her head slightly, black hair echoing the heartlessness of her words.

"Stupid, Ackerman, I would have thought you would put higher regard in your fellow trainees, not just the one whose dick you could never get ahold of."

Armin's eyes flashed with worry as he regarded the two women, eyes locked, one pair glaring, the other flat and challenging.

"Janice, please!"

His words bounced off the invisible barrier between them, and Mikasa could tell Janice was waiting for her to rush her and make it physical.

 _Why? What does she gain from this?_

Her fists were passively clenching and unclenching, but she wasn't going to play into her hand.

"I'll be sure to remember you said that, the next time you ditch your squad and get almost all of them killed."

It wasn't in Mikasa's nature to try and get even, but Janice had poked her in just the wrong place; she resisted smiling herself as the shorter girl's eyes narrowed threateningly.

"Say that again."

"Why? If you need to hear it twice to hear the truth then it's not worth repeating."

She took a step forward and Mikasa readied herself to counter whatever attack was coming, as Armin made to move between the both of them. Then, as though it was a signal from some higher power, there came a thunderous roar from and all three of them instinctively crouched. The titan who had saved her life had let loose with the sound and was now dashing down the street towards a threesome of the monstrous beings, fists raised for the imminent combat; it crashed into them with the force of an earthquake and proceeded to begin tearing them to shreds one by one. Armin spoke what the three of them were surely all thinking.

"What is it DOING?"

"It saved my life."

Mikasa spoke without thinking, even though she knew there was no way to back up her words. Armin and Janice both looked at her with different forms of confusion, the former speaking for the both of them.

"What are you talking about?"

Conflict forgotten, Mikasa straightened and stared at it, while it plowed its way through titans with all the force of a storm.

"We can use it to our advantage."

Janice shook her head in her peripheral.

"You've lost your mind."

She ignored the insult, knowing it would be refuted within minutes.

"It has no interest in us, its sole purpose seems to be killing other titans. We follow in its wake, we have a clear shot to headquarters without encountering any other titans."

"You expect me to just chase after a titan, expecting it won't… "

Ignoring her further, Mikasa turned to Armin.

"One of us can carry you, if you give me your gas. I don't mean to be rude, but the both of us are… "

He nodded fervently.

"Don't think for a second I assumed I was a better titan slayer than either of you."

She returned his nod and they swapped canisters while Janice looked on, bemused.

"You've both lost your mind… "

Mikasa turned to look at her, trying to remain as passive as she could.

"We'll need you if we're going to make it to the headquarters."

Janice stared at her before she swallowed as though it was the most difficult thing she had ever done. Then, she sighed and marched forward, hoisting Armin as easily as though he were a kitten.

"We've ALL lost our mind… "


	4. Chapter 4

Janice watched through the slits that her eyes had become as Mikasa soared ahead of her and Armin, killing titans as though it was her birthright. She moved so elegantly, so flawlessly, and so perfectly; it took only seconds of the spectacle, before Janice had to refocus her vision elsewhere without becoming annoyed.

She had meant everything she said on that rooftop, and while it may have been unwise to speak her mind what with the state of things, there was little she would have changed about the exchange. Perhaps a good strike across the face would remind Mikasa that the world was beyond the narrow vision she held for herself and Eren, a vision that had ended not an hour earlier.

She grit her teeth.

Uptightness and lack of care for others aside, Mikasa had lost someone very important to her, perhaps the most important. Janice knew how that felt, she knew how it had affected her, so much so that it had turned her into the person she was today. It was a despicable fact of life, but one they would all have to come to terms with someday.

 _Regardless, she can't just sit there and act as though the world means nothing just because she lost that one person. That doesn't excuse you for…_

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

… _running off when people need you the most, people died because of you._

It was absurd how much Janice had gotten under her skin, but Mikasa was only able to think about it in passing as she leapt from titan to titan, ensuring that her two companions would not meet the same fate as those before them. It was stupid, it really was, how some simple words had got her almost to the point of hitting the other trainee out of anger.

 _But who does she think she is?_

Not only had she run off to pursue some private agenda when the wall had been breached, but she had then had the nerve to return to the rest of the cadets and lecture Mikasa on making stupid decisions. It was irrational and unbelievable, but even beyond that, Mikasa was more annoyed that it had bothered her so much.

 _Ignore it._

That was all she could do, because, in all honesty, that was an exchange that she had no desire to think about or address ever again. How Janice would treat her when this was all over, or if she would even speak to her again, was her own prerogative, but Mikasa was done letting the girl mess with her head.

Slicing aside three fingers, each as thick as a person, she faded back and struck as the monster continued to hobble forward, sending its corpse face-first into a neighboring building. As she stared back at its disintegrating body, she found her thoughts drawn to the businessman she had encountered hours ago, who had placed the value of his merchandise and belongings over that of the hundreds of people desperately trying to escape with their lives.

 _Why hadn't he bothered me as much as…_

Shaking her head, she fixed her gaze on the headquarters building they were rapidly bearing up on; shattered windows along its wall indicated that at least some of the trainees from the charge she had led had survived, and she let the thought cause her the smallest inkling of relief.

 _Best to focus on that instead… it's not as though…_

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

… _brooding over it will make a damn difference._

Janice turned her eyes away from Mikasa to look towards the wall. There surely was a gaping hole, one that could only have come about by way of the Colossal type titan, and she shook her head.

 _Why now? Why wait until today? What…_

"JANICE!"

She jumped as Arlert screamed her name and saw that they were bearing down on the building with enough speed that the glass would shred them on impact. Slowing their pace, she lifted her legs into a tuck to kick the window in, hoping there wasn't anyone on the other side of it. It gave much easier then she anticipated, feeling as though she had kicked a wall of paper, and she touched down, sliding to a halt and dumping Armin off her.

"Armin!"

Connie and Sasha, both clearly relieved to see her, ran up to his staggered form, while Jean and the rest of the nearby cadets hovered around Mikasa nervously and with relief. Janice, while noticing the lack of attention that had been directed her way, was grateful that no one had come running up, yelling her name.

 _Pointless emotions._

It was then she realized there was a single person she did actually want to see; Cedric deserved a piece of her mind for spreading rumors among the other trainees. Real as they may have been, the last thing she needed was for the story to reach someone who had legitimate authority to reprimand her, or worse. Casting her eyes around, she couldn't spot his tall, clumsy form and she frowned, and for a moment, felt the smallest pulse in her gut.

 _Was that… fear?_

Walking up to one of the few people who she knew wouldn't hold something against her, she leaned against the wall, throwing her black hair out of her eye.

"Reiner."

The much larger young man turned his head, clearly surprised to see her.

"Janice. You're sneaky."

Not taking the time to try and discern if whether or not he was speaking of her sudden appearance, or making a jab otherwise, she cracked her neck and looked around.

"Lot of fear."

He gave a single, close-mouthed laugh.

"If they weren't, I'm not sure I could consider them sane."

"We need level heads if we're going to pull through this."

Saying nothing, he looked towards Mikasa, who was trying to free herself of Jean's frightened ramblings. Glancing the same way, she waited a few seconds before asking.

"Seen Cedric?"

He crossed his large arms, gazing around at the panicked and excitable cadets that surrounded them.

"Briefly. Few minutes before we formed up on the roof, he was called to assist a small recon group."

She furrowed her brow.

"What for?"

"Checking for other places the wall could have been breached from. As if they don't think one hole is bad enough."

Looking at him, she tried not to show her confusion at the sudden annoyance in his voice.

"You don't think there could be more than one breach?"

He didn't say anything, and her confusion persisted; Reiner was never someone to be caught off guard or put at a loss for words. Just as he opened his mouth, Bertholdt slid up beside him.

"Hey Reiner, Armin's got a plan for how we can get to the supply floor."

Janice watched them both walk away, trying to ignore the fact that Bertholdt had looked less like he wanted to inform his friend of the evolving plan, and more like he was trying to pull him from a conversation. Shaking off the oddities, she followed the both of them over to the stairs.

At the bottom of the flight, everyone had gathered around a layout of the floor plan that Armin was hurriedly talking over. Janice noticed the sudden change that had overcome him; his deafened and defeated frame had come alive with a wild sort of franticness that was much more like him. She quickly absorbed the information she saw and blinked in bemusement as she realized what the plan was.

"… we'll need the seven best of us. Everything will ride on them; our lives, the mission, everything."

The few dozen cadets all began looking around at the obvious choices for who those seven were. Eyes immediately landed on Mikasa, Annie, Reiner, but Janice tried to ignore the undeniable gazes that were cast her way. She hadn't placed in the top ten graduates due to lower scores in other areas, but her titan killing abilities were ranked to be one of the highest among all of them.

 _Am I really considering putting my life on the line for some half-suicidal plan again… we only made it here by dumb luck, Ackerman only had to put down a few titans between us and the building. And now, everyone is supposed to place their faith in a couple of people, who may or may not be able to kill the titans in the basement. If they don't, we all die, but if they do, we live to risk our lives over another stupid…_

"Robin!"

She jerked her head up and realized all eyes were on her; Jean was looking at her in annoyance, arms crossed.

"Armin's talking to you."

Looking down, Janice saw the blonde looking up at her, with worry in his eyes.

"Sorry?"

"I asked, can you bring down one of the titans if we leave this to you, Mikasa, Bertholdt, Reiner, Annie, Jean and… "

He looked up to his left where both Sasha and Connie were looking on reluctantly; the latter swallowed and raised a shaking hand.

"I, uh… I can do it."

Janice fought down a shake of her head.

 _Girl was not cut out for this._

Connie seemed to find newfound courage when Sasha spoke.

"No, I can, I'll handle it."

"I said, I can do it."

"It's fine, Sash, just let me… "

She seemed to grow offended then, turning on her heel, ponytail whipping over her shoulder.

"I said, I can do it!"

The shout caught everyone off guard and there followed an awkward silence as she glared furiously at him, regret written across his face.

"I'm sorry."

Janice stifled a snort at the needless melodrama as Armin cleared his throat.

"Yes, well, her as well."

He seemed to be relieved to turn his gaze anywhere other than the pair of them.

"Are you in, Janice?"

She became aware of an incredibly obvious atmosphere of anger and disdain as all eyes returned to her. It seemed Cedric's words had found all of them, and she fought down her annoyance at him as she looked back at Armin.

"You really think it's a good idea to stake everything on this plan?"

He seemed to not have considered this and opened and closed his mouth silently, gaze turning towards the ground. Seeming just as eager to move the subject along, Connie stepped up beside him, the collective anger of all the trainees seeming to reflect in his eyes.

"It's our only shot, and it's the best one we have. We're lucky that we have Armin here to put something together for us."

Cocking his head, he leaned back.

"But if you want to skip out on us like you did your squad, I don't think anyone would be surprised."

That almost caught her. Taking a few breaths to ensure she wouldn't come out swinging, Janice spoke to Connie without looking at him.

"Mention them again, and I'll break your head open."

Her threat was simple as it was direct, and it took him aback for long enough for her to return her attention to Armin before he decided to mount any kind of comeback.

"I'll do it."

 _Regardless of how stupid this is, going along with it is better than letting them die and knowing I did nothing._

She shouldered her way through the reproachful faces, ignoring the accusing stares that she knew she wouldn't be able to ignore forever.

 _See if I care. When I've killed every titan within these walls… we'll see how they look at me then._

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Mikasa inhaled and exhaled slowly as the titan hobbled its way beneath her. They hadn't been spotted slipping into the rafters, and the lift had come down as expected with Armin and the other trainees with rifles at the ready. She hated just watching the monsters stager their way towards the near defenseless cadets with their emotionless grins, but she was putting all her faith in Armin and his plan, as was everyone else.

 _It's what Eren would have done._

The thought nearly shook her from her focus and she quietly cursed herself.

 _Not now._

She rotated her ankle to keep the blood circulating, they had been crouching for minutes now, waiting for the single moment where they would be needed to act with perfect speed and precision. In her head, it was just another exercise, that was how she always was able to calm herself in dire situations. But as she looked at the others, she could see a vast array of emotions, not all of them good.

Reiner looked as determined as ever, so much so that he almost looked as though he was in pain. Bertholdt had the usual wide eyes that always came when he was put in a stressful situation, but Jean looked worse, almost as though he was about to be sick. Mikasa knew he wanted to look strong in front of all of them, and she almost pitied the shows he was so fond of putting on to build himself up; he wanted to convince himself just as much as everyone else. Janice and Annie could have been twins for how completely calm they looked, there likely wouldn't be any slip ups on their end. Sasha on the other hand, worried her.

The girl was clearly set and confident to try and perform to the best of her abilities, but her fear was almost palpable. Even from as far away as she was, Mikasa was fairly sure she could see Sasha's hands shaking on her blades. This was not a time to try and convince yourself, and others, that you were capable of performing to a certain set of standards, and the more Mikasa looked, the more she began to worry.

"NOW!"

Armin's voice rang out then, echoing through the long and dark walls of the basement; at once, gunpowder was lit by the slamming of locks against frizzens and the room erupted with thunderous bangs and flashes as bright as the sun. Mikasa closed her eyes, until the final shot rang in her ears, and she opened them, ready to lunge. Her titan was right where it should be, stumbling back due to its sudden blindness and she tightened her muscles, ready to jump with the rest of her team. But as she made to attack, she saw Sasha, frozen in place, staring down with fear the only thing written on her face.

"SASHA, MOVE!"

Mikasa shouted the words as she leapt herself and realized a moment too late that the shots had struck the titan's eyes, not its ears. It swung a hand around towards her that she vaulted over, but its elbow clipped her waist as she swung for its nape; her cut fell short and she was tossed against a wooden beam at the force of the hit.

"MIKASA!"

She heard Armin and Jean shout her name in unison as she slid to the floor, momentarily stunned. As she tried to rise back to her feet, she heard another sound, one much that drenched her heart with much more fear and she whipped her head around.

Sasha was pinned against a matching wooden beam, with a titan's mouth over her shoulder, clamping down. Its hands had their fingers severed, clearly done in an attempt to free herself, but one that had only briefly worked. She screamed as it tightened its jaw, and she plunged her blade into its cheek in panic and desperation. Her fighting back aside, blood was now very obvious, soaking her clothes. Mikasa heard Connie scream her name as he leapt from the lift to try and aid her and it was in that moment that she heard her own name screamed again.

"LOOK OUT!"

It was then, that she remembered she hadn't remotely killed her titan, only delayed it and she saw its hand coming for her, fingers eager and reaching. She cursed then, as she drew her blades back and realized they had both broken at her botched attack; gritting her teeth, she tucked into a crouch, still knowing that she wouldn't be able to escape its clutches.

 _Doesn't matter. Eren wouldn't want me to give up. Not after everything that's happened._

She narrowed her eyes at its leering, blinded head, as it reached for where it had heard her to be.

 _Not again._


	5. Chapter 5

Stepping backward and wincing as she knew that her ankle must at least have been sprained from the impact, Mikasa ducked and lunged forward swinging her swords over her head. The slid through the thick fingers reaching for her like butter and she hit the ground rolling, whipping her blades back around at its ankle. She didn't cut all the way through, but that had been what she expected; her goal was reached as it was staggered by the mere hit alone and wobbled, stomping around on its good foot. She almost got to the point of congratulating herself before the titan staggered backwards, and its heel planted itself on her back, halfway through her roll.

Her mouth opened in what should have been a shout of pain, but only a gasp rasped its way from her throat. Mikasa was fortunate that the heel carried its weight over her spine; nothing seemed to break, but as it felt as though it flattened her, it felt her heat and form. As she lay on her stomach, reeling for air, she saw its undamaged hand extend towards her, and she knew that there was no escaping it this time. Gritting her teeth, she tried desperately to at least squirm away from its deadly grasp.

"Again with this shit."

There was a flash of steel and Janice was suddenly there, whipping her blades through its fingers as quickly as she threw her shoulder forward to stop its palm. The smaller girl grunted and dug her heels into the ground as only its thumb and index finger remained; its palm drove her backwards and she cursed.

"MOVE, BITCH!"

Janice's shout drove Mikasa to launch herself to her feet. Her head spun as air remained something she had little of and she stumbled against the wooden pillar she had hit earlier. The grip on her blades weakened, but her fingers curled around the handles with fresh vigor as Sasha let out another chilling scream. As Mikasa rolled on her heel to look, she saw that Sasha had somehow managed to cut herself free and had landed badly on her ankle. It was bent in a tremendously unnatural way, though the brunette paid it little mind as she crawled away as best as she was able, crying and swinging the blade she had hung onto at the blinded titan, which clearly was having trouble discerning her location.

"SASHA, HOLD ON!"

Connie's shout preceded his less than graceful jump from the lift to the ground. He ran up to the titan's legs before seeming to realize that he possessed no weapon capable to aiding him in his rescue attempt. Deciding to opt for a large fragment of wood that had come from a titan's flailing hand or an errant gunshot, he stabbed it immediately in the leg; it stopped and bent, waving an open hand over Connie as he ducked. Jumping away from it as it felt around madly, he turned to look around, eyes wide.

"LITTLE HELP WOULD BE GREAT!"

Reiner and Jean immediately moved to provide assistance, being the two closest who were armed, as the lift reached the bottom, spilling out the remainder of cadets. Some remained frozen in fear, while others, including Armin and Marco, charged forward firing what loaded guns remained to try and distract the flailing monster. Mikasa raised her blades and moved to help, but as she stepped forward, there was a roar of pain on her left.

The other titan had pushed itself into a sitting position and had wrapped its remaining two fingers around Janice's shoulder; she had whipped her blades around to try and cut its wrist, but that had only caused its grip to tighten. Her cold face had come alive with the closest thing Mikasa had ever seen as emotion on Janice's face, even if that emotion was nothing more than raw agony. She saw the majority of the cadets moving towards the still standing titan and Mikasa had to wonder if any of them saw Janice's predicament or were choosing to ignore them. The decision she made was quick, but even as she looked over and saw the fear in Sasha's eyes, she saw as well the dozens of cadets swarming to help; the decision was not hard to make.

She swung first at the finger crushing Janice against herself, slashing it from its owner and freeing its hostage, who gave a pained gasp before her eyes flashed to Mikasa angrily.

"The hell are you doing, Ackerman?!"

Biting down the retort that came to her tongue, Mikasa wrapped an arm around Janice's waist and threw her backwards while she drew her arms back.

 _No, really, Robin, saving you was my pleasure._

The titan hardly reacted as she drove her blades into its wrist and downwards; blood sprayed over her as its hand dropped nearly completely from its arm, only connected by a few barely serviceable bits of flesh. Leaping away, she began trying to eyeball how to get behind it for a killing blow.

"Mikasa!"

Jean was at her side as though by will; though she didn't look to him, she could feel his terrified gaze and wide eyes looking her up and down.

"Are you hurt?!"

"I'm fine. More urgent problems, anyway."

The titan that had been rendered essentially useless, without its hands or eyes to find and devour prey, had rolled over and was flailing about in what could only be described as a tantrum as steam poured from its wounds. Just as Mikasa turned to look at the condition of the other one, the ground shook with a heavy thud. The titan that had been trying to make a meal out of Sasha had been felled and just as quickly killed, as Annie bounded up its collapsed form and sliced its nape. There were cheers from the surrounding cadets, before they began to turn and move cautiously towards the remaining titan as it kicked and flailed.

"How do we take it down?!"

Marco shouted in a half-panic, while pointing his empty gun at it instinctively, as it lashed a kick their way. Jean gave a loud, confident laugh.

"We wait for a chance where it exposes its nape. Then one of us… "

Knowing this was already the only option any of them had, Mikasa watched its motions carefully as she turned her head slightly towards Janice.

"You hurt?"

The dark haired girl tried to twist her shoulder, but stopped partway through the motion, wincing.

"Shoulder feels dislocated. Probably is, but fine besides… "

Seeming to catch the oddity of the question, she flicked her head to regard Mikasa with something resembling suspicion.

"Why do you care?"

Mikasa shrugged.

"I don't really. But if you had it in you, I would have said you could slice at its leg to distract it, then roll away."

"And you?"

"I'd take advantage of that opportunity and put it down."

Janice blew a long breath out her nose.

"Confident."

"I have to be."

Turning to look behind her, she saw Connie helping a pale and weak Sasha to a safe place, surrounded by a group of protective cadets, who all looked repulsed every time they looked at her. The wound must have been bad.

"Mikasa."

A large hand placed itself gently on her shoulder and she looked at Reiner, who didn't seem to trust taking his eyes off the thrashing titan.

"Are you injured?"

Glad for his concern, but rather hoping people would stop asking, she shook her head.

"Good. I don't know if we can pull this off without you."

His gaze flicked down to Annie, who was wiping titan blood from her shoulders.

"The rest of us will have to make a distraction. Then, then you two will have to take it down in any way you can."

Annie looked annoyed.

"We're just supposed to 'take it down' without any knowledge of how it will react."

Armin pushed his way through the surrounding semicircle of cadets, looking as nervous as he had ever been.

"You'll just have to trust us."

In a rare show of defiance, Annie turned to face him.

"Difficult to just trust someone when they don't know half of what they're doing themselves."

He looked surprised to be told off by the most reserved of all of them, and fairly hurt.

"I don't think we have much of a choice. You and Mikasa are the two slimmest and best suited for making a fast, coordinated attack."

The titan gave a particularly furious thrash and everyone's eyes flicked to it; Armin gave a nervous swallow.

"And we don't have much time."

Annie still seemed stubbornly fixed.

"This seems far too dangerous to go forward with and expect that… "

Armin seemed to reach a point.

"We can't expect anything, other than for everyone to try their best! No, we can't guarantee you'll be safe, but… "

She didn't blink as she stared back at him.

"I wasn't talking about me or Ackerman."

He seemed tremendously caught off guard that she had been considering the safety of someone other than herself. Working his mouth to try and force out words, he was saved for finding a response as there came a roar from the titan and the all-too familiar sound of blades cutting through flesh. Mikasa returned her gaze forward sharply, crouching into a readied stance.

Janice had leapt for the titan's legs and had sliced the tendons that allowed its legs to function. Its upper torso continued to thrash about, but she jumped and, with her undamaged arm, slammed her blade into its throat. Yelling through gritted teeth in effort, she managed to time her effort with a roll from the titan as it bit at her, yanking it down to make its neck perpendicular with the ground. There was a spray of blood as its teeth bit down on what seemed to be nothing but air, and she twisted her body, agony written on her face.

"MIKASA!"

She had barely a second to act, but it was all she needed. Mikasa lunged forward as its arm swung around causing all of the remaining cadets to hit the floor or be pulverized. Shooting up from her crouch, she drew her blades back and swung hard downward; the amount of force she exerted seemed to be far too much as her blades passed through its nape and dug into the ground beneath it, one of them shattering on impact. The titan gave a final reeling spasm and then lay still, dust and silence settling around them.

No one hardly dared breath as Mikasa reached for Janice to pull her away from the titan. She swatted the hand away, then grunted in pain from the effort it seemed to take.

"Fucking shit… "

Mikasa watched her with as apathetic a gaze as she could muster.

"That was reckless."

Setting her jaw, the shorter girl marched away from the slowly fading corpse. Behind them, shaky and relieved words began to be exchanged among the cadets as they moved to pat one another on the backs or embrace each other.

"You all were taking too long."

Crossing her arms, Mikasa tried not to grow angry.

"You very nearly died."

"I didn't though."

"You still think that was just your decision to make?"

Janice shrugged, tossing a rare smile over her shoulder.

"Better that then risking the lives of everyone who… "

It was then that Armin exploded.

"GODDAMMIT, JANICE!"

The room seemed to shake moments before silence returned. Everyone stared in shock at the short blonde, who seemed to be practically seething. Reiner's mouth was open and Bertholdt seemed to be almost trying to hide behind him. Annie's expression hadn't changed, but she had silently taken a step back; Jean just seemed to be surprised that anyone had managed to make more noise than him. Even Janice looked taken aback. Armin took several deep breaths as she looked back at him.

"The hell's your problem, Arlert?"

This had most certainly been the wrong choice of words.

"MY PROBLEM?! _MY_ PROBLEM?! I GUESS YOU COULD SAY THAT I JUST DON'T REALLY TAKE IT WELL WHEN OTHER PEOPLE NEARLY COMMIT SUICIDE TRYING TO REMEDY A PROBLEM ALL BY THEMSELVES!"

She seemed to have recovered some of her composure while he shouted and walked off to where she leaned against a crate, beginning to examine one of her wounds.

"No, Armin, don't thank me for saving your life, I only did what I thought was right."

The sarcasm that dripped from her voice was almost palpable. Armin stared at her furiously for several more seconds before letting out a loud irate shout and marching off towards where the gas supply was located. It was near a minute, before hushed voices broke out again, and a minute more before anyone dared follow him. Mikasa let the majority of them stride by before giving Janice a look and falling into line beside Sasha, who was still being supported by Connie.

"Hanging in there?"

The brunette lifted her head weakly and looked around.

"Do injured soldiers get extra rations?"

Mikasa let a small smile grace her face at the characteristic response; that was as good a sign as any that Sasha would be alright.

"I don't know, but I'm sure that if you ask, they wouldn't say no."

Sasha gave a shaky sigh of relief.

"Thank… goodness."

Connie looked at Mikasa over her head, and she saw the fear in his eyes. She couldn't blame him. The clothing around Sasha's shoulder had been stripped away to reveal terrible gashes from where the titan's teeth had inflicted their damage. The bite marks circled from her collarbone around her breast to the bottom of her ribs; all kinds of damage could come from a wound like that. Her clearly broken leg served as a reminder of Mikasa's own pained leg and she rotated her ankle.

"We'll get you out of her, Sash, don't you worry… "

Connie's prattling seemed to go in and out of Sasha's ears as she looked tiredly up.

"Mikasa… I'm sorry that I screwed that up."

"Don't worry about that. Could have happened to anyone."

"I was… so confident. I thought I could handle it. But… "

"You're fine, Sasha. We made it."

And as Sasha lowered her head again with a sigh, Mikasa tried to convince herself that statement was true.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

 _Bastards… giant fucking shitbags…_

Eren's dream seemed to be coming to a close. The titans with which he had been so easily tearing through had finally seemed to grow weary of their own ceaseless slaughter; they had him pinned against a building now, chewing at him and biting away pieces of him. He screamed and thrashed, but nothing seemed to work like it was supposed to. He was weak, he was tired. His rage had died down to where it could no longer solely fuel him, and that frustrated him more than anything.

 _I… I can't let this end… I have to keep killing them… forever… even if that…_

He suddenly felt weightless, as though he had launched himself into the air with the ODM gear and was falling back towards the ground, as he had done so many times.

 _What?_

Then, he struck the floor with undeniable pain and clarity. The world was still hazy and spinning, but he knew that he had fallen a great deal from somewhere.

 _Ouch… shit… ouch…_

He weakly rolled on whatever floor he had landed on, smooth and wooden, as the world flickered and tried to refocus. Then, it snapped to clarity and he sat up, gasping.

The napeless husk of a titan lay rested against a building above him, where it had apparently crashed through. It was motionless and steaming as he gaped up at it; it seemed to have crashed into the building before dying, letting Eren…

 _What? Fall out? Climb out? Did I…_

It didn't LOOK like the titan that had swallowed him. Far different in fact, but…

 _How? Did this titan eat that titan? And somehow… I survived all of that and managed to cut my way out? Then how…_

He screamed then as he looked down at himself. His arm and leg were there. They should have been gone, discarded along the rooftops like the rest of the pieces of the cadets that had been so carelessly left behind by titans. Yet, here they were, reattached and fully functional.

 _What…_

For no other reason than shock itself, he scrambled to his feet and began to run deeper into the building. Presently, his mind was racing faster than it ever had before, he was confused, shocked, scared, and most of all, in denial.

 _I can't be alive… I can't…_

He slammed a fist against the wall.

 _I shouldn't be._


	6. Chapter 6

Janice tried with difficulty to keep her face as reserved as possible; the rest of the cadets already seemed to know about what they surely considered a betrayal, and while she was fairly sure most of them wouldn't dissuade them from lending a hand if she needed one, she was not willing to test that. She simply needed to follow in suit with the rest of them to where she could privately find medical attention. Then…

 _Cedric… the bastard…_

She really couldn't be angry at him, if people had wanted to know where she was, and he had told them. But she was angry anyway, mostly because she had no business being angry at herself. Janice had dealt with enough of that in her lifetime.

"Stay behind me and in between Armin and Bert."

Surprised by the words from Mikasa, Janice looked up as she walked by along the roof. The taller girl didn't look at her while she spoke.

"You won't let anyone look at your wounds, so I don't want you dropping out of the sky, and winding up… "

"… like you."

A short nod.

"Yes."

Janice fought down a somewhat patronizing smile.

"Alright, your lead."

She watched as the remainder of the cadets lined up along the edge of the rooftop. There was a minute or so while everyone double checked their tanks to make sure they had filled them adequately. Then, Jean shouted the command and they all rocketed off towards the safety of the other side of the wall. As they shot along, growing ever closer to being out of danger, Janice couldn't help glancing backwards towards where the rogue titan had been batting away at its fellow kind the last time she had seen it.

It made so little sense, the concept of a titan going against its own race. The one they had encountered hadn't even been making an attempt to devour the titans it pummeled to bits either; humanity had labored on the concept that, for as long as they exited, the only desire titans seemed to have was to eat human flesh. This one, while directing its efforts to defeating fellow titans, had shown no desire for consuming them afterwards. It had just charged on to the next one, paying no mind to the last one that had stood against it.

 _Just a crazy aberrant, perhaps? We can't pretend we're experts on their anatomy, we, in actuality, know so little._

"PULL UP!"

Jean's voice rang out again, and Janice retreated from her thoughts to see the wall rising up quickly in front of them. Adjusting her course, she ascended the wall along with the rest of them, feeling the rush as the change of altitude hit her body. Then, they were over the top, and streaking towards the nearest flag that signaled military occupancy. Touching down along with the rest of them, she caught her breath from the incredibly expedient trip they had just taken while the lot of them waited for officers to approach and identify them.

While they were sorted and questioned, Janice began to scan the faces of nearby cadets for Cedric. Lummox that he was, it wouldn't be hard to pick him out of a crowd, but to her dismay, his round face didn't occupy the sea of worried and traumatized looks that surrounded her.

"Robin!"

She snapped to attention at the deep ordering voice that jumped her from her concentrated search. A short, but very imposing officer was staring back at her, a sheet of names clenched in a meaty fist.

"You are Robin, yes?"

Nodding, she remained in her salute; she noticed at least a dozen or so cadets trying and failing to pretend as though they weren't watching her predicament, Ackerman among them.

"Member of Peter Quillin's squad?"

"Yes."

He lowered the paper to his side and she watched his eyes narrow slightly; Janice knew then what was coming.

"Is it true you were not with your squad when they, apart from you and one other member, fell in the line of duty?"

She dragged her tongue roughly between her teeth.

"It's not quite that simple, sir… "

"YES OR NO?!"

His face swelled angrily, and she could tell he was not only not in the mood to deal with someone like her, but he also had a great many more things to attend to. Playing around the point would probably only dig her into a deeper hole.

"Yes, sir."

"Why was that, cadet?"

The beginnings of a great many lies began to spring to her lips, all of which had just as likely chance of digging her out of this predicament. She knew that if she was going to be charged for anything like desertion or insubordination this early into her military career, there was a considerable chance that she would be discharged, putting an end to any hope she had of joining the Scouts. She couldn't let that happen, not after years of wandering and suffering and after even more years of training. She needed to do everything in her power to ensure that this career was not jeopardized.

As she opened her mouth to launch into the first lie she could think of, she caught a glimpse of Ackerman's face over the officer's shoulder. Her face was passive and unjudging and Janice was heavily reminded of the face Cedric had made before leaving her those hours ago.

Janice's foot twitched in her boot.

"I have no excuse, sir."

 _What?_

His eyes narrowed a touch further, enough to give her cause to nearly swallow in anticipation.

 _Why did I say that?_

She could have said anything to try and take advantage of her situation; why hadn't she?

"You wounded, cadet?"

His voice had softened by a fraction.

"Marginally, sir."

He eyed her shoulder and slump carefully.

"How did that come about?"

As Janice opened her mouth, with every intention of spouting the truth as she knew it could only help her situation, she blinked in surprise as Ackerman stepped forward.

"She fought a titan in the basement of the headquarters building and saved my life, sir."

The officer had adopted a thoughtful tone to his eyes behind his hardy expression.

"Did she now… "

Janice gave a curt nod, not wanting to meet Mikasa's eyes. The officer remained there, regarding her for several seconds, before he looked down at his sheet and scribbled something, and scratching something else.

"I expect to see you in the general office building, third office as soon as you're patched up."

Unsure of what to say, she nodded again.

"Yes, sir."

Watching her for a few more seconds, he finally nodded and walked off.

"At ease."

Janice lowered her arms to her side and watched him go, transfixed by his sudden change in emotion. He had seemed so ready to chew her head off for her militaristic crimes, but then had become so passive and thoughtful. She wondered what he was going to say to her.

"C'mon, let's get you to medical."

She looked up to see Mikasa nudging her along, and as she obeyed the suggestion and began to walk, she felt a great deal more questions spring to mind.

 _Yeah, I saved your life, doesn't mean you owe me shit… don't think I want to get caught up in a hole like that._

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Mikasa watched Janice duck into one of the many medical tents, wincing as she did. Sasha was already lying on one of the nearer beds, eyes closed and bandages being administered as Connie stood guard like a distressed dog. She didn't dally before she walked back to where she knew the rest of her corps waited.

 _I've done what I need to._

She had been surprised with herself for standing up for Janice, but it had come on so instinctually, and she had no intention of giving it more thought than she needed.

"Mikasa!"

Jean looked over fervently as she approached, eyes wide with concern.

"Weren't you going to the medical tent?"

She settled herself between Armin and Marco, leaning against the wall behind her.

"I was just taking Janice there."

His babble began to start, and she knew she had to stop him before he got going.

"I'm fine, ankle just a little sore. Nothing more than a little sprain, and I'm not going to let that take me away from whatever higher command wants next of us."

He still didn't seem satisfied.

"After we have the okay, and they're satisfied letting us walk out of here, I'll have it checked."

This seemed to quiet him and he nodded, shifting his weight. Reiner looked towards the wall from where they had come, clearly off-put by something.

"I still can't wrap my head around what Janice told me."

He turned to look at her, a probing look about him.

"Was that titan… really attacking members of its own kind?"

For the briefest instance, Mikasa felt a wave of suspicion, as though she should withhold the information that apparently had begun to circulate anyway. The feeling quickly faded, and she nodded in confirmation.

"We only saw it after Janice and Armin stopped to help me… "

Jean wrinkled his nose.

"JANICE helped you?"

She turned to look at him.

"She was the first person there when I fell."

He, of course, took it as an insult.

"Only… that was because that I was… I was further along and to the left of the formation by the time… "

She shook her head wearily.

"It's fine Jean, I'm not attacking anyone. I'm just saying she was there after I fell."

She couldn't help but notice that he clearly had more to say, but he cut himself off, surprising her with his lack of normal blustery attitude.

It was then that Mikasa noticed all the looks she was getting from every single member that she had grown close to; it wasn't just Jean that was acting slightly outside of the norm. Annie had her eyes down as was usual, but Reiner looked just as uncomfortable as Bertholdt which was an odd thing to see. Armin seemed to be trying to sink into the wall and Marco looked as though he was desperately looking for something comforting he could say. Even Jean seemed content to just remain quiet.

It wasn't as though Mikasa had forgotten it; no matter what happened, there was no way she would ever be able to completely eliminate that single, despicable fact from her mind.

 _Eren is gone._

She had pushed it aside for the sake of ensuring the rest of the cadets achieved safety, but now that she had succeeded in that endeavor, the cold truth of it started to sink in.

"Mikasa, I… I just want you to know… "

While she had guessed Jean would be the first one to break the silence, the reserve that came so unnaturally to his voice surprised her; she was even grateful for it.

"He wouldn't want me, or any of us dwelling on it."

Her single, forceful sentence seemed to catch the rest of them off guard, but after several seconds of surprised looks, nods worked their way around the semicircle, save for Armin, who looked as though he was about to burst into fresh tears. Mikasa watched him for several seconds, knowing there weren't words that could provide him with any real comfort. Eren had meant something so different to him then he had to her. Eventually, she settled for placing a hand around his shoulder and pulling him to her. It was far more of an intimate action then anything she normally did and she could sense the fresh surprise, but as Armin leaned into her, shaking quietly, it couldn't have mattered to her less.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Eren tried with all his might to try to keep himself from panicking, but it was slowly becoming a battle that he was losing.

It was as though the world had completely turned itself upside down in all the ways that he would have been last to expect. The district in ruins was nothing new to him, nor were the titans that swarmed the streets like rats. But, where he had known his arm and leg to be missing, they were right back in place, just as he had known them, just missing the cloth that covered them previously.

 _How am I alive?_

He was trying so hard to think about what had happened, but he simply couldn't process what he was experiencing. There was no reason he should be alive, walking, running through abandoned streets like a stray dog, but here he was. The dream was gone, perhaps there never had been a dream at all.

 _But then… what?_

It struck him then, that perhaps before he thought of how he was where he was, he ought to keep himself alive. The thought occurred to him briefly as a titan glanced around a corner of a building, just missing him as he ducked into a fresh alley.

 _What happened to my gear?_

If he still had his arm and leg, why hadn't his ODM gear not survived… whatever he had gone through? There was so little that made sense, but he also had so little time to try and sort it out.

Climbing up into the highest floor he could find after slipping into a back door, he slid against a corner, away from any windows that would allow titans to gaze in upon him. Taking deep breaths, he leaned back, rocking as he put his head between his legs. He could make a run for safety when night fell… even though, at this point, he had no idea where safe was.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The report was as calming as it was unsettling.

Levi read over it three times before laying it back into the hands of the courier, who was still out of breath and red in the face, despite the fact he had rid out to them on a horse.

"The district's overrun completely then by now, I assume."

The courier twisted the paper nervously, rubbing his chin on his shoulder.

"Yes, I mean… probably, I would assume the same… considering… "

Levi eyed him.

"That wasn't a question. On your way."

As though he had forgotten his job, the courier blinked and shook his head, running back to his horse and climbing on quickly. Levi watched him go before turning his gaze to the wall that was just barely in sight. It was a hazy line on the horizon, but he could only imagine the turmoil that lay within; it would have been a worrying prospect if he hadn't already resigned himself to the situation. In a few minutes, the order would go out that they were to embark for the wall immediately, and the Survey Corps would be taking the turn mopping up the mess for a change.

 _I'll be damned if it's otherwise._

There was next to no way the Military Police would have taken charge of trying to repel the titan's advance, and it was surely a given then that the titans were all up and down the city. At that point, the only thing they would be able to do was make their way through, and make sure civilians were safe, those that had survived. Then, the district would probably be declared a lost cause, and humanity would once again be forced to retreat. Not a new prospect, but not a particularly enticing one either.

 _Won't matter. Not like anything's changed in the long run._

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

 **AN: Just a heads up, this will be the last update for about two weeks. I'm taking long-desired vacation that will surely do me well, but will put me outside of Wi-Fi access to the best of my knowledge. I will be able to continue writing as far as I know, so when I return, chapter will begin going up as usual, but didn't want anyone fretting over the next couple weeks. If, by some miracle, I come across some Wi-Fi point in my travels, I will update, but the likelihood of that is limited… thanks for your patience regardless, this story will continue as soon as it's able.**


	7. Chapter 7

The temporary, but nonetheless intimidating office had been adequately spaced for dual purposes; Janice stepped past what appeared to be plenty of public accounting records that were likely tremendously inconsequential to the situation at hand, but had been pushed back against the wall nearest the door to clear plenty of space for the user of the desk and whoever they happened to be facing. The officer who had called Janice in looked far less worriedly furious as he rose he motioned for her to approach and sit. She did so slowly and reservedly; she had no intention of doing anything that would make her appear like a troubled cadet, though she truly couldn't care less about her conduct in this case.

Her shoulder had been bandaged and then re-bandaged twice; while Janice had been sitting at the bedside after its first wrapping, it had begun to bleed through and had needed to be dealt with again, but as she had been reluctantly cleared to attend this meeting, it had broken out through the bandage once more. One rewrapping and a good deal of arguing with one of the field nurses, Janice had managed to slip from the confines of the stuffy tents, full of moaning, crying, and screaming patients. Few other soldiers occupied the beds, the titans rarely left anything to spare of those they managed to snatch or bite down on; most were civilians who had been injured in the frantic escape that had ensued after the Colossal titan's appearance.

The bite wound had been much harder to look at then it felt. It hurt like hell of course, but the gnawed flesh that went to her bone had chilled her briefly, if only because she wondered what kind of use it would be able to provide her with once it healed. The diagnosis of the rest of her injuries remained mostly nothing more than bruised or possibly cracked ribs; Janice hadn't felt them to be broken, so she had played the pain off as best she could even if they ultimately hurt more than her shoulder.

"How's that shoulder?"

The officer blinked wearily at her over the report he seemed to be looking at; she was surprised at his question, but didn't show it.

"It'll heal."

The statement couldn't have been more up for debate, but she had no desire to dwell on her injuries. If she thought there was a chance she could use her shoulder to arouse sympathy, thus lessening whatever lecture or punishment she was about to receive, it may have been worth a try, but as it happened, the officer seemed to only be asking out of respect. His eyes were already beginning to flick back to the report as she answered.

"That's good, that's good… "

She said nothing, but waited for him to continue, as he read whatever words were before him with what seemed to be growing tiredness. As the seconds ticked by, Janice began to feel sweat form on her rear as it pressed against the thick padding of the office chair. If he was this calm about whatever he was about to say, it was likely he had already made up his mind about what he had in mind for her. She had no idea what would come of this; she didn't know his rank, whether or not he could discharge her on the spot or if he would have to report her to a higher up. Regardless, she wasn't dealing well with the waiting.

 _C'mon, you fuckin' asshole, I don't want to listen to any bullshit 'honor' or 'military law' crap, just hit me with whatever you're going to…_

Sighing, he dropped the papers in front of him, rubbing the bridge of his thick nose slowly.

"My apologies, there… is a great deal that needs to be attended to."

 _No shit._

"Yes, sir."

He pushed the papers aside and crossed his fingers in front of him, finally giving her the attention the meeting required; Janice was reminded heavily of her meeting with Shadis.

"I won't ice words, Robin. Your kind bothers me."

 _The fuck is that supposed to mean?_

The statement was much less official that what she expected to hear, but no less troubling.

"Sir?"

"You lone wolf types. It seems that you and those like you perform no less than terrifically in the military. I've read about Ackerman's prowess in training as well as the reported number of titans she took down. She doesn't seem to operate well in a team, but she manages. Leonhardt seemed only slightly less capable, though she acts with similar disregard for teamwork like you. We read about these solo types year after year, and every time, they are somewhere in the highest echelon of skill"

He glanced at her, tiredness turning to… interest?

"The squad leader that spotted you and reported you, I spoke with him since we last talked. He made mention of a titan you seemed to be… toying with."

Janice resisted swallowing.

"My intention was to eliminate it, sir."

"Did you?"

"Yes."

"Was it the only one you killed when you were not with your squad?"

"No, sir."

"How many more did you kill?"

It struck her that she hadn't thought about that, nor counted; she decided to spitball.

"Nine, sir."

That sounded right. He leaned back, nodding slowly.

"Nine, I see… "

She waited for a follow up question, for him to ask what she had been doing out there, why she had been acting so brashly, what she thought he was going to punish her with.

"Robin, I know why you're here. Why you joined the military. You have the same look in your eyes I remember seeing in the mirror over two decades ago."

He didn't bother looking at her, as he turned to look out the window to the crowded street beyond.

"You want to kill titans."

Janice cracked her toes inside her boots.

"I had a grudge against them like so many people have, do, and will. I tried terribly hard, but… "

He chuckled softly.

"Look at me. I wasn't going to be some sort of record holding titan killer."

 _I could have told you that, chubbs._

"I tried so hard, for so long to manage myself a position where I could be useful in the Scouts, but it never was able to pan into what I wanted. So I became a Garrison officer and have seen your kind come and go ever since. I envy you, I curse you, I shake my head at you, but only because it was what I always wanted."

He paused for a long enough time to give Janice a chance to consider his words.

 _He's either stalling or isn't smart enough for that… in which case, he's trying to steer me towards something._

"Have you ever heard of Captain Levi of the Survey Corps?"

The question was an obvious one to answer, at last.

"Yes, sir."

"He is well on his way to being the greatest member of not just the Scouts, but of the three branches of the military as a whole. He seems invincible in his element, many men have begun to doubt that he is even human."

She blinked back at him, nodding.

 _Everyone's heard the rumors, you genius, they talk about him like a fucking god._

"I've met him twice. Once when the Scouts returned from an expedition, and once during a city sponsored dinner."

He didn't smile, but Janice could see the amusement playing in his eyes.

"He was quite something, didn't seem to hold any regard for anyone he didn't know, despised small talk, and overall, just seemed like the hardest person on the planet to get to know, let alone work with."

Looking back to her, the officer's eyes softened ever so slightly.

"I see him in you, Robin."

The statement was said in a way that was almost uncomfortably intimate. She resisted the urge to shift in her chair, though she truly wanted to let out a confused expletive; the officer ahead of her had gone back to staring distantly somewhere towards the wall behind her, seeming to have completely forgotten her presence at all. Then, as though he not only could sense her confusion, but knew what she wanted to hear, he gave her a matter-of-fact look.

"I just thought you may want to know the reason why I'm scrapping the charges against you."

She couldn't have heard him right.

"Sir?"

The officer waved a hand, the tired nature that had preceded his words returning with a slow movement.

"Get out of here."

The single second Janice took to contemplate his words seemed immeasurably longer as she replayed his words again in her head, trying to eliminate the screaming fact that there simply wasn't any way he was just going to let her go.

 _I read the manuals, the guidelines, the military doctrine, there is no reason I shouldn't be facing jail time, punishment, discharge…_

But there was no mistaking it; he seemed to already have forgotten she was there as he plucked a pen and began scribbling messily at the bottom of a different report. Slowly, as quietly as she could, Janice stood, easing the chair in ahead of her, not daring to even blink; still, he paid her no mind. Backing out of the room, she closed the door softly behind her, and paced down the hall, her boots rapping against the wooden floor and being the only sound she could hear save for her breathing.

She stopped at the end of the hallway where the doorway beckoning her back to the chaos that was surely still roaring outside and leaned against the wall, wincing as the reverberation of her back hitting the wood sent a wave of pain through her shoulder and ribs. Some form of grace had just been bestowed upon her, for whatever reason, and by whatever chance. The happening still had her tremendously confused and she wanted nothing more than to find a quiet place somewhere and think over what had just transpired, but there was no respite to be had. Not yet anyway.

 _This is bigger than just me._

A steeled expression sliding onto her face, she stepped out into the now burning sun, determined not to waste whatever miracle she had just been given.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"… and while we understand that there is surely a great deal of confusion and panic among you regarding the state of the attack, we can confirm that the Colossal type titan has vanished from where it attacked the wall and has not reappeared! The Armored type has not been seen at all, nor is there any real evidence it has been involved with this situation in any way! What we DO know is that the handling of the civilian-turned-refugees will remain our top priority! Now, we will reveal the plan for our counterattack!"

Mikasa continued to look on as the frazzled-looking Garrison captain stepped away from the makeshift podium, surrounded by hundreds of cadets and Garrison soldiers. The general attitude of the lot of them hadn't changed, if anything, it had grown worse. There was never a moment where less than a couple dozen hushed and worried conversations were being carried out; soldiers spoke to each other of their families, of desertion, of another attack by the Colossal titan, but the theme was always the same.

They were all terrified.

Next to her, Armin nudged her and she glanced down; the fear in his eyes reflected the attitudes of all most all the others, and she could only hope the lack of it in hers could provide him some level of comfort.

"He said 'our' counterattack? How can we manage anything like that? These are cadets fresh out of camp and Garrison troops, most of whom have never even seen a titan… "

His concerns were her own, but if the higher ups deemed that there was something to be gained from pushing back in any way… it wasn't something she had read about in any of her studies, humanity was not one to push back when the titans pushed first.

Ahead of her, an immediately recognizable figure stepped up, hands clasped firmly behind his back. The bald head of Dot Pixis even seemed enough to at least temporarily quiet the panicked whispering of the surrounding soldiers. As head of the Garrison, it was odd to seem him addressing them all himself as opposed to relaying his commands through other officers, but then again, everything she had read about the commander had been anything but militaristically orthodox. He cleared his throat quietly before opening his mouth and shouting his next words. They were loud and booming, carrying well across the hundreds of pairs of ears that they were meant to reach.

"CADETS AND SOLDIERS! YOU'VE ALL DONE A TREMENDOUS JOB ENSURING THE SUCCESS OF HUMANITY'S SURVIVAL BEYOND THIS ATTACK THUS FAR! BUT, AFTER DISCUSSION AMONG MYSELF AND OTHERS, THIS MAY BE HUMANITY'S FIRST CHANCE FOR A REAL COUNTERATTACK, SOMETHING WE CAN HOLD AGAINST THE TITAN'S FOR GENERATIONS TO COME!"

The loud roar of his voice seemed almost unnecessary, but Mikasa was well aware of the importance of doing so. Keeping the soldiers and cadets distracted with the noise was a good tactic to keep their minds on anything other than the horror that rested less than a mile away.

"THE PLAN IS SIMPLE AND COMPLEX! SIMPLE BY WAY OF KNOWING YOUR OWN DUTY, AND COMPLEX BY WAY OF MOVING PARTS! WE'VE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH THE SCOUTING LEGION WHICH WAS ON ITS WAY BACK FROM AN EXPEDITION! WITH THEIR AID, I AM SURE THIS WILL BE A SUCCESS!"

Whispers bubbled up again, this time more hopeful and intrigued in nature. It was common knowledge of the legendary power that was cased within the Scouts, but to think they would be participating in an advance with such basic ground troops and fresh of the camp trainees was something else entirely.

"BY UTLIZING THE TITANS' INABILITY TO MOVE PROPERLY AT NIGHT AS WELL AS THE ELEMENT OF DISTRACTION, WE WILL TIE UP THE ROCK LAUNCHED BY THE COLOSSAL TITAN AND USE AS MANY HORSES AS WE CAN SPARE TO DRAG THE BOULDER TO BLOCK THE HOLE!"

The whispers became suspicious and even disbelieving, and Mikasa had trouble not feeling their sympathies. How could horses manage to carry a boulder of that size that distance? How was a mission like that even feasible?

"HUMAN PERSEVERANCE HAS LED US TO SURVIVE THIS LONG! NOW THE TIME HAS COME TO TAKE BACK SOMETHING INSTEAD OF MAKING DO WITH WHAT WE'VE LOST! THAT BEING SAID… "

He seemed to look around, eyes steely and tired. Whispers had begun to risen to shouts, shouts of desertion, of the insanity of the high command who valued their lives no more than ants who were just toys to be played with, while officers began to shout orders against even taking a step back, how they would cut down anyone who even so much as…

"THOSE OF YOU WHO LEAVE THIS PLACE NOW WILL BE PARDONED!"

Silence fell upon the crowd of soldiers in an almost frighteningly quick way.

"THOSE OF YOU HERE MAY NOW UNDERSTAND THE FEAT TITANS CAN INSTILL! IF YOU HAVE GIVEN INTO THAT FEAR AS SO MANY BEFORE YOU ALREADY HAVE, I WILL NOT HOLD THAT AGAINST YOU! THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED THAT DREAD ARE FREEE TO WALK AWAY!"

He paused briefly as Mikasa waited, narrowing her eyes. There was a catch to this almost insane offer, there had to be.

"THOSE OF YOU WHO WOULD ALLOW THEIR OWN PARENTS, SIBLINGS AND LOVED ONES TO LIVE THAT THEY MAY EXPERIENCE THE SAME HORROR YOU HAVE SOME DAY ARE ALL FREE TO WALK AWAY!"

With that, he began relaying orders to the officers standing nearby and began divvying up positions and squads. Those who had just been standing before him stood almost frozen with the gravity of what he had said sinking in, and Mikasa almost felt a smile begin to crawl across her face. Nothing beyond what he had said, no return to motivational speech that had been so employed by commanders of the past. Just a simple guilt trip in the face of such impossible odds that almost wasn't a choice in and of itself, but she had no intention of backing down even before what he had said.

Because Eren would never have forgiven her if she had.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Levi's gaze was trained on the horizon, but his peripheral was where his mind was as he watched the sun dip ever nearing towards the horizon. The minute the sun had been down for the better part of an hour, the order would go out and they would begin their advance full speed to the district where they would lend their aid in the skill of dispatching titans to the mission that had been settled upon by high command.

"Do you think this… is something that could work, captain?"

Levi glanced at the young Scout who had posed the question who almost looked frightened that he had been noticed at all. It was a good question though, and one that Levi hadn't stopped pondering since their own commander had relayed the orders. The general consensus of those on the expedition was that the plan was insane and doomed to fail, but the face of the young man who had just spoken as well as the veiled hope behind his words were the theme behind every soldier's mind, whether he was willing to admit it or not.

This was a chance unlike anything they had been given before, regardless of how monumental the odds were. Horses pulling a boulder large enough to fit a hole that size? Preposterous. But still, the fact remained, that this was indeed something that they had never considered before, a WIN against the titans. Not a conflict that they fled from where they lived to fight another day, not some empty words of future hope of success, a pure, complete win.

It was purely tremendous by way of the hope it could instill.

Even if it was completely absurd in its conceiving.

"I wouldn't bother placing bets, soldier."

He hadn't lied. This was something that they wouldn't know the outcome of until it was over, whether that was success or failure. And there was little that Levi hated more than those who were more willing to dwell on what could be, than what was.

That was all that really mattered.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"I don't think this is a good idea. She's the only surprise we have left by way of appearance, why would we blow it on something, we wouldn't benefit from anyway?"

"I don't need you trying to protect me."

"I'm not! I'm just saying that… "

"Enough, both of you. The plan was that whoever was hiding their power would unveil it. The aberrant seemed like a candidate, but it likely went down hours ago, and we know that this is not a titan with any minimal power. The titan never showed and we can't risk humanity becoming any more congested than it is, otherwise it will be even harder to find our target."

"If what you say is true, I have no problem going through with this."

"I still think it's a bad idea."

"Noted."

…

"When do you want me to begin?"

"As soon as it seems hopeless. Humanity wants some hope… let's give it to them."


	8. Chapter 8

The sky had been lit with a fierce orange that cast the clouds in shapes as ominous in appearance as titans themselves. They hovered above the smoking and battered district like phantoms eager to watch whatever slaughter was about to take place, and it was unlikely that they were to be disappointed.

Mikasa glanced across the wall to Armin who was checking his blades for the umpteenth time; he caught her looking at him and shrugged in a somewhat embarrassed way. He had no reason to be humiliated, the task they were all about to embark on was one that would be marked as considerably historic regardless of how stunning a failure it could very well turn out to be. The entire plan hinged on two frightfully unpredictable factors: the horses and the titans.

Horses were most often utilized in the military by the Scouts as their primary method of traveling titan territory, and as such, their use as heavy lifters, at least to this extent was something that was unprecedented in nature. It was impossible to say if they several dozen horses they had indeed managed to round up would be enough to cart the massive stone all the way to the breach, and as Mikasa looked across the sun bleached buildings and rooftops, she could spy it lying there. It was even more daunting in size now that they could see it; every member of every squad knew how gigantic it was, but seeing it now added another layer of doubt over the entire operation. If the horses couldn't pull it, the mission was a wash, plain and simple.

The other, more worrisome variable was that of the titans that currently occupied the district. While the general consensus of the teachings they had all studied heavily pointed towards the concept that titans were essentially helpless without sunlight was still an idea that was often disputed. There was no doubt that their mobility and motivation was decreased significantly after nightfall, but whether this meant they were completely still for the duration of the night was another story. Reports from the Scouts had indicated that should a soldier place themselves too close to a dormant titan during the night, it may still very much attempt to snag said soldier and devour them just as readily as if it were daytime. The mission they were about to embark on required the elimination or distraction of all titans near the boulder and along the path to the breach, which was no small number of the monsters. And night hindered the sight and capabilities of soldiers just as well; using their gear in the heavy blanket of night was not something they had been trained in, nor something they had expected to ever have to do.

All in all, the plan was risky as it was unorthodox. The chance of success was something that no one really wanted to start placing numbers on, but no one also needed to point out how generally low the odds of this plan actually working were. The low, doubtful rambling and murmurs that had been going on since the announcement of the counterattack had all but died, as it seemed most everything had run out of fears to pass on to their fellow soldiers. Now, everyone was simply waiting for the order, and wondering if they would be one of the next to fall by the orders of their superiors.

"At least there's one person on this wall that isn't pacing or looking like they're going to die of an anxiety attack."

Mikasa turned to see Janice walking up with the same indifferent look that she had never seen leave her face.

"Anxiety's never come to me naturally."

Drawing up beside her with no stagger in her step evidencing her injuries, Janice twisted her head, three dull pops sounding from her neck.

"Bet a lot of these folks would envy that. Though you certainly appear to be something if not anxious."

There was plenty of truth in those words, though Mikasa had no intention of affirming it. She would never have described herself as anxious in that moment, though perhaps tense was a much better word to use. The word seemed to make the most sense as she looked down at her right hand, which was holding onto the grip of her apparatus as though each finger had been nailed in place. With a slight exertion of willpower, she convinced her hand to release its hold.

"Let's just say I'm ready."

Janice didn't bother acknowledging or refuting the assertion, and simply let out a short exhale that was as indifferent as she was. She said nothing more until a minute had passed.

"How's Blouse?"

Withholding her surprise at what she assumed was the concern coming from the normally frigid girl, Mikasa crossed her arms, not keeping her eyes from the horizon where the signal was eventually supposed to rise from.

"Alive, as far as anyone can tell. Her obsession with food survived, so that's a good sign."

The shorter girl made no reply, but Mikasa thought she felt as though a relaxed sigh escaped her.

"How about you? Shouldn't you still be in medical?"

Janice's mouth almost furrowed into what could have been a scowl before it returned to its usual apathetic line across her face.

"Got cleared by them, and then got cleared by command."

Surprised again, Mikasa repeated her action of not letting it show.

"Really."

"Don't sound so disappointed, Ackerman."

"Did I sound disappointed?"

"It's hard to tell with you."

Mikasa let her arms return to her sides.

"I would just have assumed that you would have been in somewhat hotter water after… what you did."

She didn't know why she was suddenly trying to be delicate, neither of them had exchanged words up until that point that had been anything less than hostile.

"I agree. Guess I got lucky."

Feeling an urge to press further, Mikasa decided not to pursue the issue. Whatever had happened in the office was Janice's business, and if whatever she and her superior had led to her being allowed to return to duty, then so be it. Even still…

"With an injury like that, I'm surprised you're up to being here."

Janice grit her teeth and rotated her shoulder in wide arcs, breast rising and falling with it as she let out a long, pained sigh.

"I don't doubt most any other cadet who had been in my place would have been perfectly happy to sit this one out."

"But you're not any other cadet."

"No. I'm not."

The sun dipped further beneath the horizon and Mikasa knew the order to move out would be coming any time now. The rest of her squad, a relatively more experienced group, but she imagined no more skilled hadn't even bothered to correct her into being right along the edge of the wall with them. As she thought about the surely similar thoughts of doubt and regret that were coursing through their minds, she looked over in confusion.

"Wait, so what ARE you doing here?"

Janice took another step forward, giving her bad arm one last shake.

"Participating in the counterattack as is my rightful duty as a humanity-serving, God-fearing, and duty-bound soldier."

The sarcasm couldn't have been dripping more from her voice, but none of her words served as any more of an agreeable answer.

"You're just hanging around, jumping in whenever you feel like it?"

She hadn't meant the question to be posed as an attack on how Janice had been only partially present for the most recent battle they took place in, especially considering what they had been through since, but it was clear it was taken as such. Whipping stray locks on jet black hair out of her face, Janice narrowed her eyes, if only slightly.

"Of course not. I'm in your squad, Ackerman."

Third time she was surprised, and third time she had to hide it.

"That doesn't make sense, this squad was only available for those who wanted to be directly involved with killing titans along the way to the breach, and it was put together from volunteers over an hour ago."

"Yeah, I know."

"So how'd you get put in?"

A shrug.

"I volunteered."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

By the time, he realized night had begun to fall on what remained of the city he had been standing over only hours ago, Eren realized how terrifically hungry he was. He hadn't moved for an extended period of time, crammed against the corner of the room he was penned up in, but no amount of reasoning or logic had given him a reason why he was still alive and even able to be hungry. Allowing himself to believe that scavenging for some food was the least he could do to make light of his situation and he jumped up at the prospect of being able to fill his stomach. Standing proved that his feet fallen asleep and he was back on the ground within seconds, cursing, and staring at the ceiling.

The world outside had grown quieter as it had grown dark, as the texts he had read about humanity's severely limited knowledge about titan anatomy suggested it should. Heavy and staggered footsteps that had been sounding outside that he wasn't able to block out had ceased, giving way to the belief that they had indeed stopped moving and had become dormant for the night. For a single, rage-induced moment, he considered running into the streets with whatever sharp object he could find and have a go at the first titan he came into contact with, but what wisdom he had shut that plan down quickly.

When he succeeded in making his way down the stairs of what he assumed now to be an orphanage or daycare of some kind, the sight of a kitchen against the opposite wall sent a brief wave of elation through him. Shaking his feet which still stung with the needles that being asleep gave them, he walked awkwardly over the cupboards and began ransacking the room, tossing aside anything he couldn't force down his throat. The familiar shakes of panic began to seize at his muscles as he found nothing but cutlery, plates and bowls as it seemed either the building had been emptied prior to his arrival. At last however, a door in the pantry opened up to several boxes of packaged bread. He tore into them with a ferocity that even Sasha would have envied.

 _I have to get out of here. If I can get to a higher point in the city and get my bearings, I can make a run for the other side of the wall… if that hasn't already been lost, too._

He realized there was no point worrying about what he couldn't know, as it would only ever give him cause to doubt his actions. And if he doubted them, he was less liable to act, which would inevitably result in inaction, which was just as likely to get him killed.

 _If I really am going to die, it's going to be fighting my way to my friends, not cowering in buildings of some lost district._

He refused to believe that everyone he had known was dead; he had seen the members of his squad fall alongside him, but how could he be for sure now that what he had seen was even real? He thought back to the titan that had been leaning up against the building he had come awake in. It didn't make a lick of sense, still, but the theories had begun to dance in his mind like taunting children. Gritting his teeth over his hurried meal, Eren forced them aside and drew his thoughts to those he had known he hadn't seen perish. Armin, Mikasa, Reiner, Sasha, everyone, God help him, what he wouldn't have given even to see Jean at that moment. The world seemed so empty, so devoid of any natural life that it was starting to play with Eren's head in ways he wouldn't have thought possible.

 _Just… don't think about it. Focus._

As tiring and dated as Mikasa's lectures had gotten, he drew one of them up in his mind; he had just finished a scuffle by the bathhouse with Jean and Mikasa had been dragging him away from the fight.

" _Goddammit, Mikasa! Let me go, if you don't let me sock him around, he's gonna be telling everyone in the corps that he beat me!"_

" _And when Instructor Shadis gets through with him, that's all he's going to be able to do. When he finds out that you and Jean fighting is what broke the shower, and that you walked away, he's only going to have Jean to blame. Which puts a black mark on the list for him, and he sees you as maturing in walking away from a fight."_

" _I'm NOT walking away, though, you're DRAGGING me… "_

" _Just try for once to think about now, not about fighting through it. There are other ways to beat it."_

He would have gone on arguing, but the way she had said "it" had been something so completely veiled that he had stopped. She had held back something behind that single word, something Eren knew she had wanted to say, but had withheld, though for her sake or his, he never knew. He never had asked.

 _Alright, Mikasa, I'll focus, I'll get out of this and find you and Armin. I WILL get out of this…_

Stopping with a cheek full of time weathered wheat, he clenched his fist.

 _I will._

His focus lasted only a couple seconds before a loud air splitting crack sounded from outside. It was a noise he had heard before and one he had identified before he had even ran to the window on his still throbbing feet to check. Shooting upwards into the dying light of the darkening sky was a flare. He couldn't quite identify the color from where he was near the ground, but the fact that it was in the air at all caused his heart to skip a beat.

 _Why would a flare be going up? Unless there's a mission of some kind going on, the Scouts are the only ones who use them. Unless…_

There was only one reason then, why the sky had just been split with the telltale sound of a flare being fired off. Though for the life of him, Eren couldn't imagine what kind of plan had been thrown together that would actually warrant it being put to the test.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The crack had barely resonated against his eardrums when Levi had spurred his horse into as dead a sprint as the beast could manage. He hadn't needed to turn to see if his subordinates were following just as he hadn't needed to see if his blade box was full. If there was a single thing Levi had taken away from these expeditions, it was a knowledge that he could only perform to the best of his own abilities. He had heard the mutterings of the other Scouts, but it wasn't faith or trust as they seemed to think. It was a childish notion, and he hated it almost more than anything, but if it helped them sleep better, he had no reason to tarnish their delusion.

The wall came bearing up on him very quickly, growing in front of him like an immense titan rising from a long sleep. But he knew better, and the actual titans came into view, seemingly frozen stocks of flesh rooted where they stood. He slammed his handles against the plugs of his first set of blades and drew them without any sort of emotion. He had seen blades snap in half upon being drawn in many an encounter previous to this, whether it be overzealousness during an expedition, or untempered emotions outside of one. Each time the results ranged from obnoxious to deadly, but Levi had never spent more than a couple seconds of thought on them.

" _Pleased to meet ya, kid."_

He propelled from his horse as fast as a bird diving for fish, likely even faster. On one hand, he had always subconsciously made a game out of killing titans before they even saw him coming; it was a good test of his reflexes and his speed, and it gave him a little extra challenge among simply keeping some of his partially inept comrades alive. But on the other, he hated the idea of them not getting that single second of what he hoped was fear, knowing they were about to die.

And as he plunged his blades into the almost tantalizing soft flesh of the first titan in his path, he only wished he could impart even the barest fraction of suffering upon them that they had on their victims.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

In what was almost a single, mesmerizing motion, Janice stepped off the wall alongside Mikasa and the other members of their squad in what appeared to be a perfect mirror of all other squads as they dropped down the wall in a synchronized movement. The flare's brief life in the sky had barely begun before she had rocketed faster towards the ground with the aid of her ODM gear, moving further and further from her squad. In regards to actual teamwork, this assignment required generally little; as long as you were in the area where your squad was assigned clearing out titans and watching for others, you were doing your job. This being said, another loud hiss of gas to her left caused Janice to look over.

 _Shit…_

She had hoped that volunteering for one of the more danger-prone squads, this one in specific, would suffice as a decent thanks for the words she had said earlier in Janice's defense. Gratitude did not come naturally to Janice, just as anxiety didn't come naturally to Mikasa Ackerman. But being alongside her, at least on paper, she had thought would be a sufficient way of saying thanks, but now, as she glanced only meters to her side, Mikasa seemed to have taken the gesture a skosh more seriously and was following in formation. This was something Janice had feared would happen, and she had been stupid to assume to would have gone any differently. Without Eren to watch like a guard dog, the somewhat injured member of her team would have to do.

 _Fine, Ackerman… but don't think I'm going to be easy to keep up with._

Moving into a direct descent, she angled hard at close to what could have been called the last second, but for someone like Janice, it was nothing more than extra second. Dust she couldn't see in the dark was kicked up as she streaked through the street, Mikasa behind her and slightly further up. She continued along this dangerous and exhilarating path for a kilometer or so, before jumping in height rapidly and detaching her cables, something she had done in practice many times, much to the dismay of the trainers, who rightfully saw the move as pointlessly risky.

"Damn."

She spoke the word aloud, but it may as well have remained in her head for all the people who could have heard it. There were a lot of titans. More than she trusted the squads around them to be able to clear out with low visibility and a general lower skill level before the horses were due to arrive. They may have been motionless, at least from what the naked eye could tell, dozens of different sized black towers along the streets and occasionally roofs, but there were a too many of them. This coupled with the fact that it still had darker yet to get, and the mission, regardless of whether it succeeded or not, would be over before the moon could be of any help only added to the pointlessness of the proceedings that Janice had been suspicious of well before it had even begun.

Mikasa was able to pull up alongside her as her pace slowed considerably as they both assessed the situation.

"The ones on the rooftops have to be aberrants. Do you want me to… ?"

"I've got them. Start with those three along that street and we'll cut our way straight to the boulder and work our way out."

Janice had never been one to give orders, but she found that the words she spoke were simply her thoughts put into sound, orders or not. Mikasa took this in stride and rocketed off without another word. Janice followed alongside her briefly, shooting up towards the first roof and drawing her blades gently.

This plan could never work, it was impossible for the horses to accurately drag the boulder all the way to the breach, and with the time they had to work with, it was even more impossible. But as she approached the first titan, an abstract extension of the pure blackness of the building, she found she didn't care much. She was about to be killing titans.

What more could she ask for?


	9. Chapter 9

In the darkness, the roof came up quicker than she expected and Janice winced as her feet hit the top of it hard enough to send shockwaves of throbbing pain through her legs. The last titan she had killed had defied its own nature just enough to try and take a bite out of her as she came around to its nape and this had caused her descent to be deadly quick. She whipped her head around to stare at its now half-turned shape just above her. It had returned to its expected state of stillness, partially crouched against the silhouette of the buildings behind it. Giving no thought to the danger of a second attempt, Janice's hooks slammed into the corner of the building adjacent to the titan and she pulled herself in a tight arc, under its arm. Moving far more expediently, she slashed in a dangerously close diagonal stroke and landed across the street on a neighboring housing unit. Falling awkwardly to the street below, she waited only a few second to see if she had succeeded in dealing a blow of fatal proportions; when it remained still, save for the steam that she could hear rising from its remains, Janice shot off back along the street.

The horses had reached the boulder and the loud and frenzied commotion of getting dozens of the animals strung up to the boulder was underway behind her. Her squad and those working alongside them had all but eliminated the titans along the beginning half of the distance between the boulder and the breach. Despite a few cases where taking too long to act or a botched kill attempt caused a near immobile titan to make an attempt at one of their assailants, the elimination had been relatively quick and problem-free. But as Janice spotted Mikasa's familiar and agile form moving across the rooftops ahead of her and she made to follow, the twinge of worry, which had been working on her mind gradually, began to heighten.

Pulling up slightly beneath her squadmate, she called out briskly.

"Ackerman!"

She could see her look down in the dark to acknowledge her.

"I thought you said that you would be difficult to keep up with."

The remark would have been funny, and Janice would have appreciated Mikasa's rare show of humor if she hadn't been as growingly concerned as she was.

"Did you hear any word from the secondary squads?"

Those squads in particular were meant to skirt around the path of where the boulder had rolled, outside of their squads' area of operation and deal with any titans along the way. They were also the prime informants on what kind of numbers they would have to deal with the rest of the night, beyond the titans they had already killed or made note of.

"Little. It's easy to miss the smaller ones in this dark, and two squads have already lost members."

Ignoring the close call she had just had, Janice blinked in bewilderment.

"What? How?"

"Three soldiers who were fatally injured in ODM gear accidents, and two by titans."

Cursing silently, Janice shook her head.

"It was wrong what we were taught. That they don't move in the dark."

"I know."

This news was unsettling. It had become apparent that if anything was going to be a problem, it would be time. Even if the horses proved capable of moving the massive piece of debris, it would surely not be very fast, and it would surely take at least close to dawn for them to make it to the breach. If the mostly-dormant titans became active once more, the situation would likely heavily devolve to the point of likely having to scrap the mission and lose a good portion of their mobility in the horses as well. Janice's fingers tightened around the grips of her blades; it was one thing to know how desperate a situation could be, she had been in more than a few of them in her life. It was another to know that, in this case, there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

As if she could read her doubts, Mikasa made a hard turn along an alley where three titans loomed like pillars.

"We'll just have to kill as many as we can and be ready for whatever comes."

Despite the blatant obviousness of the statement that Janice almost fired a "no shit" off at, she knew Mikasa was right and it honestly was somewhat reassuring to hear that her sentiments were shared. They had about five blocks to go before there was a slight break in titan population and where they would inevitably meet up with the member of the Survey Corps who were taking part in the operation.

 _My future compatriots._

In everything, Janice hadn't forgotten about her ultimate goal. This operation would end, one way or another, and when it did, she would enlist in the Scouts as had been her plan for the past several years. It was so close now, so very within her reach.

" _You are reckless."_

"Bah!"

She shook aside the memory fervently and rode the right walls of the street until she was perpendicular with the first titan. Ascending and then cutting back sharply, she had downed it before it would had even had a chance to react to her, even if it had been the middle of the day. She didn't however, judge her recovery route as well as she should have and barely managed to correct in time before splattering against a large, brick chimney. Ahead of her, Mikasa had paid her near miss no mind and had already dispatched the second titan and was jetting quickly towards the third. Attempting to draw no notice to herself, Janice fell into formation behind her as she saw the rest of her squad moving towards them along the adjacent street. She couldn't make out precisely who was who, but she could count and found herself relieved to see that their number had not dwindled.

"ACKERMAN!"

The supposed squadleader had pulled up alongside Mikasa and had begun violently berating her, likely for going off on her own with only one other, less experienced teammate. Janice openly smiled in the dark, knowing she was next, but she didn't care. Rather she get shouted at for doing something they ultimately wouldn't punish her for, then have to deal with the silent void where her would-be aggravator used to be.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Eren darted through the black streets where he could now very clearly see toppled husks that had not been there minutes prior. These titans had been wandering around before the sun had set and had become still in the time since, but now here they were, dead and evaporating. Pressuring his ear, he listened as hard as he could to try and pick up the telltale whistling of ODM gear, but whoever had done this job had moved on.

 _I can't believe this… they're actually trying a counterattack in the fucking DARK…_

If titans were being felled then that was a start, but Eren couldn't fathom what the purpose of this could be. Only exceptionally skilled soldiers would be able to kill multiple titans in these conditions, and even if they could, daybreak would bring many more, staggering their way through the breach to replace their lost brethren. It was dangerous, it was risky, and ultimately didn't seem to have any kind of redeeming payoff. Eren didn't know the whole story of course, but whatever the military had planned, he couldn't see what the benefit of it could be.

Needless to say, while he couldn't wrap his head around this seemingly pointless operation, he could at least use the situation to his advantage. He had been following what he thought were the bodies of dead titans in order to get nearer to safety, but as he rounded into another alley and looked to where the wall ought to be…

 _Shit._

With the darkness blending in with the wall and the only source of light being what he assumed her torches held by soldiers atop the towering structure that gleamed like miniscule fireflies, he realized he had absolutely lost all bearing on where he was in relation to where he needed to go. He had got himself lost.

"You've gotta be fucking KIDDING me!"

His sudden, errant shout surprised himself and he looked around frantically as though expecting the shimmering orbs of a titan to come peering around a corner as impossible as that was. Looking up and around, spinning as though the answer to his problem would come from the dark itself, he finally grit his teeth and ran a hand through his dark, greasy hair.

 _I can't figure out my surroundings from here, and I sure as hell can't get anywhere by running though streets and alleys unless I'm going on luck… I have to get to a roof at least, somewhere high and then maybe… maybe I can make out one of the church steeples or something, that'll tell me where I am._

Impressed with his own deductive skills, he looked up, squinting through the dark to identify which building ahead of him was the tallest. Selecting one after a moment, he ran up to it, hugging the side until he found a door. Eren worked his way up what turned out to be five flights of stairs until he reached the top; there was no roof he could step out onto, but the windows did a job enough of letting him look out at his surroundings.

The view wasn't a whole lot better from the streets he was disheartened to find out; he needed to be moving at a quick pace, or be much higher than he was to get any feel for the streets and buildings that surrounded him. From where he was, the wall was barely visible in a wide, full circle, black against the night and visible only due to the moon that was trying everything in its power to poke through the thickening layer of clouds that obscured the stars. Eren swore and slammed the toe of his boot into a chair that broke in several parts against a wall on the opposite side of the room. But as he watched it break, a light coming through the window on the chair's side of the room caught his eye.

 _That wasn't there a minute ago._

He crossed the room and stared out. On a wide, lengthy roof, one that likely belonged to a prudential building or possibly the school, at least two dozen torches had been lit and despite the distance between them, Eren could make out a good deal of people walking about. It didn't take long to understand that this was not only his best option, it might be his only option if he wanted to escape the night alive. Besides…

 _Armin and Mikasa might be there._

If there really was a military operation afoot and both of his friends had made it through the day alive (he refused to believe otherwise), then it was very likely that they were having to participate in whatever plan was being put into action. The large looking meeting taking place across the dozen or so blocks indicated that no one other than soldiers could be getting together for whatever reason. Deciding in a heartbeat what he had to do, Eren made quickly to turn and head for the stairs and his shin collided with the chair he had kicked; going to the ground and cursing all the while, he remained on his side for a couple seconds, rolling his eyes mentally over his stupidity. But just as he began to force himself to his feet, a loud thud echoed from nearby.

"Get inside, GET INSIDE!"

"What the fuck is going on… "

Climbing to his feet as quietly as he could, Eren pressed himself against the wall just next to the stairwell. His heart had jumped to his throat as quickly as it ever had and he found himself wondering why he was suddenly so frightened.

 _These are surely soldiers, who else could they be… I need to get down there and introduce myself, they'll be able to get me out of…_

The voices were down several flights of stairs, but the quiet of the district and the raised tone in which they were speaking allowed them to carry up to Eren's ears without any real interference.

"You said for HOURS that we would be free all fucking night, that the only thing we would have to worry about were titans that couldn't move anyway. You didn't say ANYTHING about a fucking full scale military operation across the whole district… !"

"How could I have possibly predicted this?! We're looters, we don't have some random godsend connection inside the military that lets us know everything we need to know about their dealings… "

"This is so screwed, we need to get out of here before they find us."

"I think we still have a good shot to at least get to the main office block and go through that… we'll never get to the bank, not with them all out there like bees, but if we roof hop, we can get there and be out of here before sunrise… "

"Let's get up there first and have a quick look around before we make any big decisions."

Eren leapt away from the stairs like a cat; these weren't soldiers, these were looters, pillagers. He had heard the stories about these people years ago, people who had found it prudent to raid his hometown of everything the abandoned homes had left in them. Taking from the dead what they had left to the world, he had heard of certain groups of these people becoming unbelievably rich, and the very thought made his blood boil. He highly considered running down to meet them and killing them all, but common sense reminded him he didn't know how many there were, he didn't know what kind of weapons they could have, and he had nothing to fight with himself. The same fire he had felt in Mikasa's house raged in his veins, but the marginal wisdom that had come with age fought it down.

 _At least three grown men, probably on high alert… what would I do against that if I wanted to?_

But as footsteps pounded up the stairs towards him, Eren realized that passivity may not be his best option. Rather, it may not be an option at all.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Mikasa touched down on the rooftop in the rear of her squad, Janice just beside her. The several hundred square feet had grown bright and noisy in the minutes since the roof had become the meeting place for all squads involved in the operation. As she looked around to the faction symbols on the backs of the present soldiers' cloaks, she became aware that the Garrison icon was not the only one she saw. There, in the orange flickering glow of dozens of torches, the wings of freedom fluttered on the backs of several of the soldiers; these men and women held themselves much better than a lot of the troops who had begun the operation on the inside of the wall. Panic was absent from their faces for the most part, and they refrained from twitching or acting sporadically. Mikasa wondered if this was to try and spread comfort to those of a more worried mind.

"This is so fucking insane, why are we bothering with this… the horses will never be able to pull the boulder! We're risking our lives for nothing!"

"He's right captain, please, listen to reason!"

Turning to the source of what sounded to be the growth of a heated argument, Mikasa saw several Garrison members huddled next to each other like frightened children. The fear on their face was evident to the point of it being just as obvious that they didn't care how much they looked to be humiliating themselves. Mikasa heard Janice snort behind her.

"I am under orders just as much as the rest of you, and I cannot, and will not, allow you to desert by way of cowardice."

Mikasa recognized the cool, demeaning voice of Captain Rico well before she saw her. She had encountered the young captain briefly after the evacuation had completed and the captain had congratulated her on her prowess fresh out of camp. It had appeared immediately that she would be a no nonsense type of officer, and this was proving that theory.

"Captain, we can't risk our lives on the basis that the insanity of you and your superiors dictates… "

The foremost protestor slammed his mouth shut as Captain Rico drew one of her blades up, not enough to be an outright threat, but enough to hint at what could come if he continued this line of dialogue with her.

"You will get ahold of yourself. And you will see this operation through. No matter the outcome."

A harsh silence held then, if only for a moment.

"It's good to know that the Garrison isn't completely made up of spineless degenerates, living of the money of taxpayers."

Nearly everyone in proximity of hearing turned, several of the Garrison members looking understandably angry at the remark. They all adopted much more humble expressions as they saw who had spoken.

Captain Levi of the Survey Corps strode to where he was comfortably in the middle of the recently quieted ruckus, looking around at the assortment of characters almost curiously. Mikasa felt a touch of awe if only briefly as Rico openly addressed him.

"We understand the rest of operational command will be on your orders for the remainder of the mission."

He nodded without looking at her, still looking around at the men and women who surrounded him in the torchlight.

"We will continue to push out at any titans along the path the boulder will be taking. In the case the breach isn't sealed by daylight, we'll need all the extra time we can buy for ourselves."

Gesturing off into the darkness at something they all couldn't see, his low, chilled voice continued speaking.

"We will continue this until sunrise, whence we will group up on the wall and reassess from there."

"And if the horses can't budge the fucking thing?"

Mikasa realized that Janice had been the one to speak out, and she found herself wishing the girl wouldn't have done it directly behind her. She made to move aside, but Janice shouldered her way past her and stood a good ten paces from Levi. The two regarded each other, short with dark hair and eyes that froze. Levi didn't answer her question, nor did he reply immediately. When he did spoke, it was in the form of his own question.

"What's your name, cadet?"

Janice didn't ask how he had known her military status.

"Janice Robin."

He nodded again and walked past her towards the edge of the roof and looked up and down the street. Coming to some assessment, he walked back and looked around at the dozens of soldiers who had silently filed up to listen to him.

"Split back into your squads and return to work. Meet at the top of the wall at sunrise."

No one moved immediately and Rico took the initiative.

"YOU HEARD THE MAN!"

Everyone moved at once and the sound of equipment being prepared and hushed, nervous voices broke out among the Garrison and cadets. The Scouts moved eloquently and deliberately, putting on a show by doing what Mikasa knew was there typical routine. She reached out to pull Janice back from where she had walked up.

"Robin."

Levi's voice, quiet and cold as it was, cut through the commotion as readily as a gunshot; Janice turned to face him, face noncommittal and passive.

"Speak out of turn like that again, cadet and you'll find yourself somewhere you do not want to be."

Not needing to elaborate, he turned, wings swirling and disappeared into the darkness. Janice turned just as quickly and retreated to her squad's side, many of whom gave her disapproving looks which she ignored. Mikasa followed after her, and shook her head almost involuntarily.

She had never heard of anyone speaking to Levi of the Scouts in such a way.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Levi shook off the insubordinate nature of the cadet as quickly as he had dealt with it. There was no place for people like her in the military, not really; she would find her place comfortably in the Garrison if she lived that long. And Levi surely didn't have time to spare it a second thought.

"You still thinking about the outside of the wall along the breach?"

He turned to Nanaba, a soldier he strangely enough wasn't annoyed by the enthusiasm of, and nodded.

"I highly doubt the breach will be sealed by daybreak, if at all. We need to kill as many titans as we can that are on the outside just as much as the inside."

She returned his nod, as no further explanation was necessary. When the sun rose, the titans would begin moving again, and those who hadn't made it inside the district before nightfall would take the first chance they got. Levi and his Scouts would try and dissuade them.

He dropped off the roof and rocketed off, well aware of the countless soldiers following in his wake; the hiss and whistle of the countless gas emissions rang above the silent district, but through it all, Levi heard another noise. Somewhere, far off, but not too distant, around a hundred horses neighed and began to strain against the harnesses all at once. Levi didn't bother to send anyone to see if the boulder had begun to move. It was irrelevant. The horses would do their job or they wouldn't, just as Levi would do his, or he wouldn't. But he would.

" _No, no, no, not like that you stupid kid, you're seriously gonna have to work with me here, or I'm not sure you're gonna be able to make it out here."_

He always did.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Pretty late, I know, but I promise it wasn't intentional, simple example of life getting in the way of my Wi-Fi. Next chapter will be up much timelier.**

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Janice stood atop the wall, several hundred feet just above the breach and stared forward next to Mikasa and several other squads. She shook her head as she saw the sky lightening bit by bit; it was almost unnoticeable and probably was to a fair few of the soldiers on the operation, either by choice or by lack of perception. But whether one could tell that day was coming soon or not, one thing was painfully obvious.

"They're never going to make it in time."

She spoke this aloud, though she had thought only to think it. Mikasa turned her head, not enough to make eye contact.

"No. They won't."

Feeling anger building on the futility of their situation, Janice fought to keep from raising her voice.

"Then why are we still here? We should call off the op, get the horses out of there. They've moved it, yes, but it'll take a week of this before they reach where they need to."

"You don't need to bother saying what we're all thinking. If we had orders to retreat, we would retreat. But we don't, and for now, there's nothing we can do about it."

The reply came not from Mikasa, but from Nanaba, who Janice hadn't noticed walk up alongside them. She looked at the wings emblazoned on the fluttering cloak and stared reproachfully at the new arrival.

"I thought the Scouts had operational command and had ordered the rest of us up here."

"You thought correct."

"Captain Levi did so in order to allow you elite few to deal with the last remaining titans near the breach."

She did her best to throw some gentle derision on the "elite few" portion, but either Nanaba didn't notice the sarcasm, or was above acknowledging it.

"He wanted at least a few of us to keep any eye on you lot. I think he imagined you might try to get… "

Glancing down at Janice, a faint smile played at her mouth.

"… up to something."

Realizing she was being played with, Janice made no reply and looked back forward. She didn't feel angry, not really, but the idea that they were still here when they shouldn't be baffled her. This was exactly the sort of win or lose attitude she hated and had read in multiple cases of Survey Corps outings; a situation that had clearly not been going for the better, and the commander, or those in charge, had pushed on regardless, resulting in more unnecessary deaths, and of course, defeat. Of all the noble, stupid aspects she knew about the Scouts, that must've been the part Janice hated most: willingness to die for no reason other than orders.

"We wait for the captain. And we go from there."

Nanaba's smooth words and delivery seemed to have a relaxing effect on a good deal of the surrounding soldiers, but Janice couldn't imagine ever feeling calm knowing that, unless a retreat was ordered within minutes, more people would very likely die.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Annie landed just behind the steeple where the rendezvous had been set and tossed a quick glance back to see if she had been being followed. No fluttering green cloaks or telltale streams of gas indicated she had anything to worry about, but as she saw the faintest glow in the sky, her relief was displaced immediately by tension.

"I thought for a minute you were going to take Bert's fretting to heart."

Reiner's thick form was nestled against the structure, arms crossed. Even in the darkness, she was sure she could see his usual serious look dominating his face. Regardless, she felt annoyed that he would even joke about her ditching the plan like that.

"I agreed with this plan, if you recall. I think it's our best bet, and I'm not worried about any consequences that may come to me."

He didn't move, but she could sense his change of tone.

"You sound like you're expecting some shit to happen."

She crossed her own arms to mockingly mirror his uptight stance.

"I'll do my part. Whatever happens beyond that is out of my control."

If he nodded to acknowledge what she had said, she couldn't see it, but he did fall quiet nonetheless. She walked up to stand beside him and let the distant sounds of ODM gear fill her ears as best as they could. Though she would never admit it, especially not to Reiner, she was nervous about what was about to transpire, but not because of fear for herself. If this ploy resulted in the loss of her being an asset for whatever reason, the setback would be enough to probably force Zeke to take command back from Reiner and that most likely would result in a lot more casualty in the name of something she didn't care about nearly as much as Reiner and Bertholdt did. She couldn't fail.

"The horses haven't come through, then?"

Though she couldn't make out the progress from that far away, Annie looked back over her shoulder involuntarily the way she had come.

"They've moved it, but not to any extent that would indicate it'll be even halfway by sunrise. If they're smart, they'll call it off until tomorrow night and pick up from there, but they won't."

"Then you haven't much time. You remember exactly what… ?"

"Yes."

"Annie, I really do hate it when you interrupt me like… "

"Reiner, I'm putting my reputation and life on the line for this plan of yours because I trust it can work. I don't want to have to resort to this, but I, like you, understand we don't have much of a choice beyond this, falling back, or showing too much of our hand."

She turned her head and hoped he was looking back at her.

"So please don't try and sound like I haven't already thought this over a thousand fucking times in my head. I wouldn't be here if I hadn't."

He said nothing, and she wondered if she had offended him. Then,

"I didn't mean to assume anything of the sort. I just don't want anything to go wrong due to any lack of preparation."

"If something goes wrong, it won't be because of that."

This time, she was sure she could see him nod.

"Then good luck."

Annie made no reply, but instead let the sound of air whistling rush through her ears as she shot back towards the fray. She didn't need luck any more than she believed in it. Either she would perform and succeed or she would leave them down a serious advantage. And she had absolutely no intention of even considering that it was the latter.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"I ASKED YOU A FUCKING QUESTION, YOU DAMN KID!"

Eren had no time to try and dodge the punch that slammed into the side of his head and sent him tumbling to the side and almost crashing into the corner of the room. He scrambled to his feet, shaking the wooziness that had resulted from the hit, and raised his fists. Ahead of him, four darkly clothed and considerably larger men than him stood, one with a lamp; they leered at him from the flickering light, but he could tell they were nervous as well.

"I'm not with a squad! Mine was killed in action and I was left out here!"

He wasn't trying to elicit empathy, that was something that was surely too impossible a hope to bank on, but if they believed he was alone, there was a chance they would leave him be. The ploy didn't seem to be working though.

"Bullshit. Why would you still be here after nightfall? Why wouldn't you run for one of the encampments?"

"I've been trying! I don't know the district that well, and navigating it in the dark is a whole nother thing entirely!"

It wasn't lost on Eren that they were slowly inching their way towards him, likely either to restrain him or worse. The four of them could very well have had any number of weapons on them, from blades to firearms and it was this fact only that was keeping his anger at bay. He wanted nothing more than to charge the lot of them and make them hurt for assuming they could get away with stealing from people who had no means to safeguard their own property anymore. Eren didn't know the age of any of them, but they very much could have been some of the number who had robbed his hometown, and that possibility alone was enough to cause his blood to boil.

"What in the world makes you think we'll believe something like that?"

"I don't know, what makes me think you'll believe ANYTHING I say?"

The question caught the burglar on the right very much off guard and he closed his mouth, clearly having not thought his line of question all the way through. He turned his head towards the middle of his entourage, lowering his voice as though doing so would cause Eren to not hear him.

"Why don't we just kill him?"

Another one of them spoke up almost immediately, as though he had been expecting the question.

"He's useful, he can tell us what the hell's going on out there… "

"If he's really been in here for the remainder of the day and the whole night like he says, then there's no way he knows any more than any of us."

Eren was grateful to the burglar in the middle of the pack, who spoke in a low, almost reassuring tone, but his gratefulness was offset by his sudden wave of suspicion.

 _Why does he believe me?_

When no one else spoke up, the same man who had offered the explanation stepped once ahead of his comrades and looked Eren up and down. His features were blackened and indiscernible from the hood he wore and the light that was thrown behind him, but Eren could tell that this man's brain was working quicker than his friends. He gave off the same aura someone like Annie did, the world was moving slowly enough for them to be ready at any given moment.

"Listen, kid, I don't know exactly… "

"My name's not 'kid,' it's… "

A hand was raised in a silencing gesture, but it was not done so in a manner that was angry or impatient, rather it was done in a way that seemed more tired than anything.

"I don't want to know your name. I don't want to know a thing about you."

It was said so matter-of-factly, that Eren had a difficult time even thinking of something to say in reply, and he opted to say nothing regardless. He imagined Mikasa would have been very impressed with his unusual show of restraint, both verbally and physically. The man continued.

"Now, I don't know exactly what led you to be on this same floor, of this same building that we are in now; you may be telling the truth, and I hope you are, but you surely understand I… we have no way of knowing that."

His words were precise and clear, and it became clear to Eren that this was a man who did not care to waste time.

"You surely have surmised at this point what our purpose is. We are here to loot and steal. We will sell what we can wherever we can on the market and will find use for what else we cannot. I don't suppose you see us as particularly good people, but I truly couldn't care less how you feel. Now, I don't want to alarm you, and I don't want to do this anyway, but you surely must see that we really don't have a choice other than to kill you."

The last sentence was said with a nonplussed finality and he stepped backwards behind those he had come with.

"Make it quick."

While one of them lagged behind to remain beside him, the man on the far left and right charged Eren with speed he hadn't been expecting. With the both of them and the flash of steel he saw, he wasn't able to replicate Annie's move to put down one attacker in an instant without risking being gutted by the other. But he saw one of them stop a good five feet ahead of him and raise his arm, and he knew then why he had.

" _EREN!"_

Armin's voice screamed in his head and he lunged forward; it was a dodge more than anything, but it worked to greater effect than he could have hoped. The deafening bang of a gun being fired indoors knocked his ears senseless, but he felt no further damage dealt to his form, indicating a miss. The other man, who was now in possession of a large curved knife, saw Eren's movement as an attack of some kind and hastily backed up, bumping into his companions as he did. Knowing his time to act was very short, Eren doubled back and wrapped his hands around the throat of the man who had narrowly missed him.

"You… !"

The word was all he managed to get out before Eren squeezed whatever voice he had left from his lungs. Trying to turn him and thus use the man as a shield as he killed him, he slipped on the dropped gun and they both tumbled to the ground. Eren was able to roll on top of him and slam his head against the wooden floor twice until he saw brightness leave the man's eyes. The orange light of the lamp was dancing all around the room in a dizzying performance and as Eren rose into a crouch and turned, shouting became obvious behind him.

"Hold the light steady, HOLD IT STEADY!"

And Eren found himself staring down the barrel of a second gun. He had been caught almost immobile and he realized there wasn't a ploy that could get him out of this situation. But as he looked forward, and found he had to come to terms with the fact that he was about to be shot dead, he also found he couldn't accept that.

 _I can't die here. Not after everything._

He could feel something burning behind his eyes.

 _I won't._

The gun blasted, loud and bright.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Levi was positioned halfway up the wall, grapples dug into the stone when he saw them both.

Two identical bolts of lightning shot from the sky and struck the earth beyond his sight with an equally stunning boom. They almost sounded in harmony, and the minute they finished ringing, the light from the lightning faded and the very pale sky returned to being the only light that existed in the district.

On one hand, Levi imagined any man with lesser thought of himself would immediately begin questioning his own sanity after witnessing a sight like that. The night had been cloudy, but no rain, no wind, and no lightning or thunder had indicated the incoming of a storm. Had such a sign been picked up, plans may very well have changed, but beyond the obvious darkness, ODM settings had been optimal. But now, two bolts, yellow and blinding had just flashed before him, and he could already hear the Scouts he had been with shouting from beyond his sight.

Levi was not a man who had gotten to where he was by questioning what he saw; that was how close to thirty percent of the Scouts that were lost came to be, freezing over seeing something that shouldn't have been, or was too much for them to take in. He acted on what he saw, and he did so immediately; even if the ultimate decision happened to be something as uneventful as waiting, Levi was waiting the minute the choice had come along. And now, he had witnessed an anomaly he didn't think he had ever imagined he would see. Whatever had just happened, it was not natural, it was not known, and it was most of all, very curious.

"CAPTAIN!"

A Scout alighted next to him, panic etched into every word he spoke.

"What do you want us to do, I don't know what that was, but we all saw it, and we can't afford to start… "

Levi swatted a blade against the man's blade box, resonating with a ring loud enough to snap the soldier into silence.

"Take everyone else and meet up with the squads atop the wall. My orders remain to stay put until I return."

He glanced to the right where the more distant lightning had fallen.

"Tell Nanaba to take one or two soldiers and investigate the anomaly on that side."

He pointed as directed.

"If she hasn't seen it, and God help her if she's that blind, send someone who had."

The order was not immediately replied to, and Levi snapped his head over, letting mild impatience seep into his voice.

"Understood?!"

The man could only nod as fervently as he could before clumsily jetting up the wall to relay orders. The moment he had, Levi detached himself and began to fall towards the district below; at near the last second, he fired his left grapple and was shooting through the streets in no time. His mind should have been playing all the possibilities as to explain what he had just witnessed, but there was nothing that came to his thoughts that could come close to giving him closure on what he had seen. In the back of his head, thoughts of the mission nagged at him, but he paid them no mind. The mission was lost, it had been from the start, but the soldiers would be safe and if the ones guiding the horses didn't have the sense to cut them loose and flee themselves when the sun rose, they had no business being alive anyways.

" _That's it, Levi, don't try and stick to a plan just because it's the plan. That's what plans are there for, you know, to become different plans."_

Drawing fresh blades, he blazed his way over the rooftops to the lightning struck ground beyond.


	11. Chapter 11

Levi rounded the rooftop where the lightning had decimated the ground and found himself face to face with what could be described loosely as disappointment.

Alongside a great deal of steam, all that existed for him to investigate was a smoking crater, lightly imprinted into the ground; Hange perhaps may have had a good deal of excitement to investigate what was surely something of pertinence to her, but for someone like Levi, this was nothing more than something to shrug at. He circled the crater as slowly as he was able, but found nothing that appealed to his interest or that would stand as anything of immediate relevance. He was ready to dismiss it as a freak weather event, before something finally did catch his eye, resting near the building where the lightning had sheared half of it away. Touching down on the blasted remains of what was once the third of fourth floor of the establishment, he looked down at what seemed to be the remains of four humans.

Their bodies had been blasted with a tremendous deal of heat, and was likely what had killed them; expressions open and wide-eyed, they stared back at him from the dead as he toed each of their forms for any sign of life. Upon finding none, he concluded that they had been unfortunate victims of happenstance, but took note of their similar black attire. It was entirely possible that they had been the same type of hyenas that the Military Police had taken such offense to and complained about for such an extended period of time. While Levi couldn't have been further bothered from caring about their deaths, he became even more apathetic as he walked away from their corpses. People like that deserved a death, as being those of a desperate species who chose only to scavenge off those who had no way to protect it.

" _Don't assume anything kid, take anything for granted and it'll come back to bite you in the ass."_

As he reached the edge of the building, he turned back as the words of years past whispered at his ears. Near where he was standing, shadowed in the corner of the coming daylight, an arm lay, surely belonging to one of the thieves who had met their end at the hands of what seemed to be natural fury. He stepped closer to it and looked at the stump where it had once connected to a shoulder and realized that, unlike the rest of the body parts around him, it had not been blown away by heat and force. The upper portion looked violently and bluntly severed, not at all burned; blood had pooled from where it had connected to its body. The sight was peculiarly familiar and felt very out of place alongside the rest of the charred remains. Shaking his head, Levi looked away and made to head to the chapel in the northeast portion of the district where he would get a last wide look of the area.

He tried very hard to ignore the fact that the arm looked almost identical to as if it had been bit off.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Ignoring the frantic rambling of the other several dozen soldiers atop the wall, Janice shouldered her way through the crowd of pointing and gawking and panicking people after the fluttering wings that were retreating quickly for the western side of the district.

"Excuse me, sir! Sir!"

She was well aware she was speaking loud enough to be heard and was just as aware that she was being ignored; Nanaba was directing several Scouts around her, gesturing and speaking very quickly. Drawing up just behind her, Janice took a deep breath and fell into line, waiting for a chance to speak. She was in no mood to be ignored, but knew that impatience would not get her anywhere. She was just as at a loss at what had happened, but as she had been looking directly at the first area of impact, not where Levi had gone to investigate, she believed she had seen something that likely everyone else had missed.

"I need the four of you to stay here. Throw the rest of the Scouts ahead of all the Garrison members and fresh cadets, make sure none of them go anywhere NEAR leaving the wall. The two of you are coming with me, we are going to examine that point of impact… "

"Sir!"

Janice chose that moment to interject and was somewhat surprised when Nanaba spun to face her, the calm and amused look gone from earlier, replaced by something much more impatient and angry.

"WHAT?!"

Grinding her heels to a halt, Janice caught her words and straightened.

"What was that, that that just happened?"

It was a stupid question, one that she was only asking to ease her way into conversation, which she knew would go over just about as well as trying to ease a cow through a trapdoor. Nanaba looked almost disgusted by the question as she resumed walking quickly towards the edge of the wall, two Scouts in tow; Janice knew she didn't have much time and when it appeared Nanaba had no intention of answering her question, she followed it up with a statement that would surely prove much more worthy of attention.

"I saw something there, when the lightning came down."

A quick chin jab over her shoulder and a slight slowing of her pace was all Janice needed to know that the curiosity of her superior had been snagged.

"What?"

"There was a titan there, at the point of impact. It looked about the size of a fifteen meter class, and while I'm not sure if it was there before or after the event… "

She purposefully trailed off as though lost in thought, though she wanted nothing more than the silence to let her words sink in. Nanaba actually stopped walking and turned to stare down at her, eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"I'm not sure what exactly it is you thought you saw… "

"There was a titan."

The four words had been loaded onto Janice's tongue, but the voice that echoed them was not her own. Turning, she saw Mikasa standing just behind her, a passive determination written on her face.

"She's telling the truth. The lightning illuminated the area very briefly, if you hadn't been looking at the spot, you would've missed it."

Nanaba grit her teeth before looking between the pair of them cautiously. Janice had not been expecting Mikasa to back her up on this, especially considering that the taller girl had been looking in quite the opposite direction at the time it had happened. But Janice knew what she had seen and she was not lying. She had indeed seen something in the shape of a titan outlined briefly in the yellow flash and was doing her best not to play up how intrigued she was. Her ultimate goal in telling Nanaba this was to be able to accompany this scouting party to the epicenter of the event, she had to know what she had just seen. Were there titans capable of manipulating weather?

"You can back up her story?"

Mikasa crossed her arms and straightened, though there wasn't much to straighten.

"Yes."

Looking around and behind her for no more reason than to let her mind clearly brew with contemplation, she looked back up and raised a finger between both the dark-haired girls, a different sort of curiosity floating onto her face.

"You two… aren't like a thing, are you?"

Janice and Mikasa nearly beat each other down expressing their denial of this assertion.

"No, no, no, we're not… "

"No, we just… we're just… "

Ignoring their sputterings, Nanaba cocked her head.

"You aren't just saying that to stand up for your girlfriend?"

More of the same hurried denials and they seemed to do the job enough. Nanaba sighed and looked at her compatriots who looked thoroughly disinterested in involving themselves in the conversation; looking forward back at the both of them, she jerked her head.

"Stick to my ass. When we reach the site, you're going to point out exactly what you saw and where."

With that, she ran for the edge and was over the side, her Scouts just behind her. Blinking away her surprise at the speed of her success, Janice followed suit, duly aware of the echoed footsteps of Mikasa beside her.

 _Why would she do that for me?_

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Annie made her way as carefully as she could towards what was the area she was needed. Reiner's instructions were precise and she knew that if she didn't follow them as such, her and their plans may become altered very severely as well as quickly. No titans obstructed her path for which she was grateful and within minutes, the boulder came into sight.

Its size was more imposing then then it had ever been before; it wasn't anything like a perfect sphere, and as such, it made sense why the object was being moved so inefficiently by the horses. She saw them, pulling as hard as they could against the dozens of tethers that connected them to it, but their struggles were about as futile as anything could be. They had moved it probably fifty or so meters which was something, but wasn't anything remotely resembling progress that could be worked with. Not slowing in her pace, she drew up just behind it.

She saw faces of surprise from the soldiers manning the horses at her sudden appearance, but she paid them no mind. Her job was one that had to be done as quickly as she could, and as she looked up at the pale sky, she knew there was even less time available to her than she had previously guessed. Steeling her will, she went to work.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Howling with all the fear and confusion that he felt pent up inside him, Eren crashed into yet another building, knocking the majority of it to the street below.

 _What's HAPPENED to me?!_

One moment he had seen the men bearing down on him, the next, there had been a sharp stab in his leg as one of his would-be assailants attempted to disable him, and then, he had been standing in the street, as tall as the building he had been in. All but one of the men had seemingly been blasted to death by some intense heat and the last one, so small he then seemed, had been picked up by Eren and his arm bitten off before he was thrown aside. Not being able to believe what he had just done to the man who had become small enough for him to pick up, Eren had looked down and realized that what he thought had been a dream before had been nothing of the sort.

The titan's body he now inhabited was extremely muscled and build as lean as any fifteen meter class could be. It easily absorbed the shock of the blows as he crashed from building to building, roaring and panicking in a way that would indicate to anyone else a titan gone mad. He hadn't been dreaming before, he had BEEN a titan, delivering instant and satisfying justice to those who had invaded his world and destroyed his childhood. That thought alone was something to feel good about, but it was a candle in an ocean compared to the torrent of confused and frantic emotions he was feeling.

On one hand, he wanted to stop moving and just think, as Mikasa would surely have advised him of, to try and logically come to a conclusion about what he didn't understand, but he knew there was no explanation for what had happened to him. He had become a titan and now here he was, stomping his way through the streets, driving himself against and through buildings, and letting his fears overwhelm him.

 _A human who could become a titan…_

The thought kept recurring through his screaming mind; this was something he had done once before hadn't it? During his dream that hadn't been a dream, right? And that meant there was a way out of this terrifying situation, yes, he could revert back to being a human. Hope suddenly welled in him like a spring, and he managed to hold himself still and cease his panicked rampage long enough to stop and at least consider that his existence was not a foregone conclusion.

 _Mikasa would think the same thing, and she would be right. Freaking out does me no damn good, I need to THINK about this, think about how this could have happened. There has to be a connection, a similarity, to when this happened the first time in regard to it happening now… I just need to think about it._

Eren sat down on the roof of a two story building and put his head in his giant hands. He did his best to ignore the tremendous proportions that he now bore, and closed his eyes, doing everything in his power to remember and think. It didn't come easily at first, but after several seconds, a calm began to settle on at least his thinking; deep down his feelings were still crashing about madly, but he pushed them down in an effort to get ahold of himself.

 _That dream… was real, I must have been. I was a titan, and somehow, I was able to… fall out of it? Get out of it? How did I do that?_

He remembered killing more titans than he could count before…

 _Yes!_

He had been heavily damaged as a titan before and that had been the condition it had been in when he had found himself as human, sitting on the floor of the building, alive and confused. At the time he had paid no mind to what it had meant and had simply tried to escape his way to somewhere where he would be safe. But now he could see that this was his best option, he had to get himself eaten by other titans to the point where he had been the first time. Standing and tearing a piece of the roof off as he did, he looked around desperately for titans before punching the neighboring building in frustration.

 _Idiot… have to wait at least…_

Looking to the paling sky, he squinted towards where the sun was going to eventually rise and clenched his fists.

 _At least another hour._

He began making his way much more calmly through the streets, with a much greater deal of self-control. This was a remediable situation, it had to be, he just had to be patient; the sun would rise and the titans would be on the move again. Then, it would simply be a matter of bothering enough of them to the point where they would dogpile onto him and all he would have to do is lean himself back against a building when they did. He would be manually ejected from this hulking, brutish form and thusly be free of the titan's confines.

But it happened, unfortunately, to be that Eren's patience was not something he had ever been prideful of. So as he looked over towards the boulder that had come about as a result of the breach, he couldn't help but begin plodding his way towards it.

 _Well… until then, maybe I can at least TRY doing something productive. Besides, who's ever had a fucked up advantage like this before?_

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Mikasa heard Janice swear as their group of five slowed in midair to allow a sixth person to jet into their ranks, sliding in easily as he positioned himself next to Nanaba. Mikasa only needed to crane her head slightly to see that it was none other than Levi himself. He seemed in no mood to make conversation, judging by his silence upon joining their ranks, but Nanaba did not seem to have any intention to let that be all they got out of him.

"Well?"

He spoke without turning to face her.

"Nothing there. I don't know if we will have any similar luck here, but… "

Then, he turned back, his eyes more skeptical than anything.

"… considering you found it prudent to bring two fresh cadets, I assume there may a little more to this than I assumed."

Looking as though she had swallowed some foul tasting paste, Nanaba looked back with him before turning her head back forward.

"They say that they saw something near the base of where the lightning struck and they backed up each other's stories. I brought them to show us where they saw what they did."

"And may I ask what they think they saw?"

It was not lost on Mikasa that the disbelief in his voice carried over to his words as well. This hardly offended her as she had lied to Nanaba's face about the sighting that Janice had witnessed, but she had seen it as a chance to get down there as well. She knew that Janice had wanted the same thing, and perhaps she hadn't even seen anything either. But even if it was a lie, it had succeeded in getting them apart of the team to investigate.

"A titan very near to where the lightning struck."

"Really."

Mikasa looked to Janice and saw her watching Levi most carefully. She didn't assume the shorter girl would snap at the captain over his obvious sarcasm, but after their tense encounter, she wasn't putting anything past her, and readied a response in case she saw Janice's mouth open. She didn't look annoyed or ready to defend her claim, but instead looked almost relieved. Levi looked back for only a second, before returning his attention forward.

"Robin, was it?"

Mentally, Mikasa cursed.

"Yes, sir."

"Move up, alongside me. You, stick to these three."

Janice looked over to Mikasa briefly, almost as though she was asking permission. Mikasa could only shrug slightly and then watch as Janice obeyed the order and followed after Levi as he streaked lower towards the ground. With the still relatively large amount of darkness, they vanished against the blackness of the streets; Mikasa looked after them, for several seconds before one of the soldiers alongside Nanaba called out with serious alarm in his voice.

"SIR!"

She looked to him in annoyance at his noise, but her eyes widened as well as she followed his gaze. Mikasa looked too then to the boulder and wondered why this had been cause for alarm, when she realized it was moving much quicker than it had been. Quick enough that it may very well have been able to reach the breach by dawn.

"It's… moving… and… is that a… titan?!"


	12. Chapter 12

Switching back in his descent as quickly as his lightning quick reflexes would allow him, Levi gestured outward towards Robin who was still following closely in tow. She matched his speed and stuck to his right as they pulled around the second impacted area and alighted on the closest roof that allowed them to overlook the crater.

It was eerily similar to the first one Levi had examined, so much so that he doubted immediately that the two events were unrelated; he already had assumed that, but this acted purely as confirmation for his line of thinking. The ground had been blasted to the side in a near perfect circle and steam still rose from the lips of it. It was not lost on Levi that the steam arising from both the craters looked very nearly identical to the steam that arose from the bodies of wounded or dead titans. Extending a hand, he motioned quickly for the trainee to step to his side which she did, an annoyingly noticeable amount of apathy about her face.

"Tell me exactly what you saw."

She pointed with her right blade to the side of the crater that faced deeper into the heart of the district.

"Just there, I saw the silhouette of something humanoid and looked to be that of a titan in terms of size."

"What else?"

He could tell there wasn't anything, but he was curious if she had any intention of lying to him.

"Not that I could see, it was just the shape that was illuminated very quickly by the lightning."

"Was it moving?"

"I'm not sure."

Looking back forward, Levi held up a hand.

"Wait here."

"Don't you think… "

He ignored her and gently descended quickly to the center of the crater. The ground felt oddly soft against his feet as he marched quickly around its diameter, eyes flashing every which way for a sign of what he wanted to see. It wasn't until he reached the area of the lisped crater that Robin had indicated that he did see what he had been hoping to find; very distinct footsteps moving from the crater to deeper in the district had been laid into the ground, just as the steps of a titan would be. As opposed to the usual steps that Levi had tracked as a member of the Scouts, however, they were harshly displaced from each other, suggesting that whatever titan had been here had left in a very serious hurry. The first step it had taken was lain deep into the ground, suggesting it had launched itself forward with immediate and extreme force.

"CAPTAIN!"

Looking back towards the roof he had left Robin and raising both his blades, he saw her gesturing urgently over his head in the direction of the operation. The sky had grown a very consistent and definite shade of blue and Levi knew the sunrise wasn't far off; rocketing upwards, he alighted on a roof adjacent to hers and stared. After only a couple seconds, he waved Robin and he took off over the rooftops with her in hot pursuit. He wasn't entirely sure what he had seen, but he had a fairly good idea that whatever it was they were coming up on, it was not something he was familiar with seeing.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Armin wasn't sure exactly when he had dropped onto his hands and knees, but he became very gently aware of that fact as he stared down over the wall at what the rest of the cadets and Scouts were now shouting and screaming about. Connie was gripping his shoulder, not perhaps to steady Armin, but much more likely to steady himself as he wobbled on his feet and blinked feverishly.

"Holy… holy fuckin' crap… "

Looking around involuntarily for Mikasa even though he knew he would be disappointed, Armin found himself wishing more than ever that she were here next to him, to reassure him simply by way of her presence. What he and the other dozens of soldiers were watching couldn't have been a dream as he had already jabbed himself in the arm with his blade several times to no avail.

Down on the far side of the boulder, what looked to be a fifteen meter titan had sprinted up with frightening speed and instead of looking to snatch up the soldiers that were flitting around the boulder, trying to maintain control of the horses, it had lowered its shoulder and slammed into the boulder; the hunk of rock had lurched forward noticeably and the titan had continued pushing. The boulder was now moving with a pace that suggested that maybe, perhaps, it could be jammed into the breach before the sun rose and titans would begin streaming back into the district.

"How is this happening?! What is that thing?!"

Armin wished he could provide an answer to the panicking cadet next to him, but there was nothing he could say that would even remotely alleviate anyone's stress, including his own. All he could do to try and keep from becoming a babbling fool like the rest of his division had become was to stare and try and make sense of what he was seeing.

Firstly, the titan was very different than any he had seen before or had heard of being depicted, the same way the Colossal and Armored titans had seemed to be unique in their different-looking and intelligent archetype. The titan pushing the boulder looked very definitely female with curves and proportions that very strongly suggested femininity. It had blonde hair almost down to its shoulders and skin that for the most part looked muscle based, as though it had no skin and was just a skeleton and muscle. Armin thought to the Colossal titan and how it had been reported as looking very similar in regards to having no evident skin.

 _Is this another titan like the Colossal and the Armored? Intelligent and able to think and plan? Is it possible that it could be… an ally?_

"LOOK!"

A singularly terrifying scream from one of the younger female Scouts caused Armin to turn his head so quickly that it hurt. Standing down the end of a street perpendicular to where the boulder was placed, another fifteen meter class titan had appeared. It had a mess of longer black hair, a wide toothy mouth and even from there, it was possible to detect its extremely wild eyes. It looked briefly at the titan pushing the boulder and then tilted its head skyward, letting out a long thundering roar; it then lowered its head, and broke into a full charge, tearing down the street with speed Armin hadn't thought possible of titans. He could hear people around him shouting and hollering, some even going as far as to tell the titan pushing the boulder to watch out, are yelling at them both to kill each other.

The Female titan turned its head at the sound of the other titan's roar, and had stepped away from the boulder the minute it had broken into a sprint. To Armin's further disbelief, it raised its arms in what appeared to be a defensive posture as though it had been trained in martial arts. The other titan paid no mind to the shift in the Female titan's movements and continued its charge down the street and the Female titan dipped its knees slightly, furthering its shift into a defensive stance.

 _Wait… is that… ?_

His train of thought was swiftly jarred as the charging titan gave another bellow and pulled its arms up to attack its own.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

 _YES… now just need to get it fighting and then let it damage me to the point where I can back into one of these buildings and let myself…_

Eren's mind paused a moment as his brain suddenly caught up to his thinking and began hammering him with more information. He realized that the titan he was presently beating feet towards had been…

 _Pushing? Was she pushing it towards the breach?_

It certainly seemed as simple as that. The boulder had not altered course in the direction it was being moved, nor he realized, had the surrounding soldiers along the rooftop made any attempt to strike down the titan. Perhaps they were simply awestruck by a titan aiding them in what appeared to be a futile operation to seal the breach, but tthey looked to be running along the rooftops, watching the titan closely instead of trying to eliminate it.

 _It can move freely without sunlight the same way I seem to be able to. It seems to be trying to help move this boulder in what has to be a move by the military to seal the hole… how the hell did they expect horses to be able to pull this off?!_

Realizing that there was far more to this titan then met they eye, Eren gave another bellow and slammed a fist into the building on his right, serving as a brake as he slowed to a halt, a block away from the titan. He lowered his own fists as he saw the other titan's hands raised in a defensive stance.

 _Another divergence from a normal titan. This one is like me, that must be it, there must be someone INSIDE it, someone like me, maybe someone who understand what this means!_

He opened his mouth to shout a question, but all that issued from his gaping, toothy maw was a cluster of grunts and shouts. The other titan made no reaction to his outburst other than frowning very, very slightly.

 _But that means she's intelligent! That has to! She sees another titan acting like a moron, and it's confusing to her! Other titans could never be capable of such thoughts, they would just probably attack me. No, this one is different…_

Standing up straight and adopting the most passive stance he could, Eren looked skyward. The stretch of darkness that had been above him was glowing with signs of brightness now, and he realized the sun could very well be minutes away from rising and the titans would be on the move again.

 _The military launched an operation to seal the breach under the cover of night using horses… its crazy, but it never would have worked. But… this titan, this PERSON, is someone who wants this operation to succeed, to plug up the breach._

More than anything, Eren knew he wanted to understand what had happened to him and be free of this monstrous fleshy prison, but as he stared from the Female titan to the boulder to the soldiers around them, he began to remember the reason he was even in this district when this had all began.

 _Humanity… fight for humanity… kill titans for humanity… TAKE for humanity._

The next thing he knew, his shoulder was against the boulder and his heels were ground into the street as he stressed as much strength as he could into the boulder. For a moment, it didn't move and he wondered if it was something that he would be able to do. Then, very gradually, he felt it begin to slide just a bit with every shove he gave it; turning his head, he saw the Female titan watching him very closely as he worked against the boulder. Her eyes could have been surprised, they could have been bored, they could have been angry, he could not tell, but he did notice that it looked as though she had slightly lowered her arms out of the stance she had taken. Realizing he could deal with her later, he turned back forward and roared skyward as he gave another tremendous push. Despite his massive and muscled physique, it still barely seemed to move at his touch.

 _Can… can I do this?_

He nearly collapsed as the boulder gave another surge forward, one much greater then he had been expecting. Looking around in surprise, his eyes landed on the Female titan; now to his immediate right, her hands were against the same boulder and she was shoving alongside him, eyes forward. For a moment, Eren wondered if he was still indeed dreaming before remembering that he had never BEEN dreaming. Steeling his mind, he pushed on.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"ACKERMAN!"

Flicking her eyes forward just in time to avoid colliding with Janice, Mikasa twisted in midair to compensate as the other girl did the same. Looping sharply and pulling up alongside her, Janice looked with a touch of annoyance to her.

"You trying to kill me before we even get a grasp on this situation?"

Shaking her head and looking back down as they neared the wall, Mikasa shook her head.

"Just a little caught off guard is all."

Face returning to its usual state of passive boredom, Janice glanced the same way.

"Same."

"Cut the chat you two, full speed to the wall!"

Nodding in affirmation of Nanaba's order, Mikasa shot forward until the last second; she and Janice both slammed their feet against the wall as they braked horizontally and began to quickly ascend vertically. Within seconds, they pushed over the top of the wall and landed amongst the rest of the remaining soldiers.

The chaos of the environment hit her immediately; cadets and Scouts alike were scattered about without any sort of real order, be that staring over the wall on their knees in overwhelmed states of shock, running around in sheer states of total panic, or even furiously arguing with their neighbor about what the hell had happened to the world. She looked around, but found no place among her comrades that she wanted to be. Janice pulled up alongside her and gazed around, crossing her arms and shaking her head as a pair of Scouts slammed fists into each other's faces.

"You'd think that humanity's spear would be composed of perhaps a few more tempered souls… "

As she trailed off, Levi shouldered his way roughly between the both of them towards the Scouts; seizing them both, he slammed two knees into each of their stomachs and dropped them twitching and rolling in pain to the ground. Rubbing her injured shoulder, Janice looked after him with an air of both appreciation and annoyance.

"Dick."

Stepping back from the subordinates he had downed, Levi looked around at the dozens of soldiers who remained completely out of control. His face was as close as replica to Janice's usual dead-eyed stare, but Mikasa could see the disgust in his eyes. It was the same look she had seen in Eren's eyes so many times as he listened to Jean's ramblings about the Military Police and the hate that been so…

 _Stop._

She could feel the heat growing behind her eyes and she quickly shook free of her head to focus in on the moment. Nanaba walked up alongside Levi and bent to say something in his ear to which he nodded in response. The taller woman took a step forward and appeared to sigh as she looked around at the disarray that surrounded them; then, a furious look appeared on her face and she seemed to swell in size.

"ALL YA'LL NEED TO SHUT THE _FUCK_ UP!"

Her voice carried loud and long over the heads of every soldier atop the wall and silence arrived so quickly that for a brief moment, Mikasa could heard a consistent ringing in her ears. Levi looked around the large group of cadets and Scouts who seemed to have caught how humiliatingly they had been acting, though most continued to cast frightful glances at the spectacle down below. Looking around without a single change in expression, Levi spoke; it sounded quiet, but it clearly resounded in the ears of all.

"I'm not sure I've ever been more embarrassed to be a member of humanity's military, but rest assured, it'll be hard to top this."

Faces reddened and eyes were cast down as he continued.

"Your antics aside, our mission has been updated and I expect everyone here to carry it out."

Jabbing to the side with his blade at the unbelievable sight below, he waited a moment for everyone to glance once more to it.

"Whatever is happening down there, whatever unprecedented feat is occurring behind me, it is, for the moment, in our best interests. Two titans are doing our work for us, and while they are making a good deal of progress, they will not seal the breach by daylight. Our mission is to protect them for as long it takes them to reach the hole and plug it."

The silence became stunned for several seconds before the familiar hiss of ODM gear came up the east of the wall; Captain Rico with a half dozen soldiers in tow, all carrying large canisters of gas. Rico walked up alongside Levi, looking around with something that could resemble amusement.

"Gas to calm the nerves, Captain."

He didn't smile, but Mikasa heard Janice snort softly next to her. Levi looked back around at the lot of them.

"You will all form up in your squads and follow behind me as we finish this."

"Excuse me, Captain."

A tall, straight-faced cadet walked had stepped up and was staring unblinkingly at the much shorter man. Levi looked at him calmly, but gave him no prompt to speak, though the cadet continued anyway.

"We've been trained for years to combat one thing… titans. And now because two, likely, aberrants are having a wrestling match with the boulder, we are to assume that firstly, they will not attack us when we near them en masse, secondly, that they won't give up on what they are doing and become interested in something else, and thirdly, that they will use the boulder to seal the breach at all."

He paused for a breath; Levi hadn't moved.

"I'm sorry, captain, but I just find it very hard to believe that you are ordering us to risk our lives to DEFEND titans. As insane of a situation as this is, that's just a little rough to put out there."

There was a long pause as he seemed to have had made his point and others began to whisper amongst themselves, likely in confirmation of what the cadet had said. When Levi finally did move, however, the voices silenced; the captain looked calmly down at his blade as though it were a piece of art.

"I understand this may be a lot to ask. A rather incredible something to accomplish. And I understand if it isn't something you're at all ready to accept."

His eyes flicked up.

"But that doesn't matter."

Mikasa saw, ever so slightly, his fingers twitch on the handle of his blade.

"I understand as well that Commander Pixis informed the lot of you that you were free to abandon the mission as long as you were fine with letting your loved ones continue to live in fear of the titan threat. He seemed to think that the fear of guilt would be enough to stave you."

The blade came up.

"I am not the Commander."

The straight face of the cadet paled.

"If any of you still wish to run, feel free. If you wish to abandon the mission, that is your prerogative. But just know that the instant you turn your back, my blade will sprout from your chest."

Very quietly, the cadet stepped back into the crowd. Levi raised the blade around at the dozens of now pale faces around him.

"Any other questions?"

No one dared breathe.

"Very well."

He drew his second blade.

"Form up."


	13. Chapter 13

The sun burned through the haze of dawn as strongly as it ever had, lighting up the world with vibrant and bright yellows, well enough to blind if gazed directly at. Beams of it shone over the horizon and sliced over the wall, bathing everything in a serene glow while igniting just as biting a fact in Janice's head as she ran along the top of the wall with her squad.

 _We are going down there to defend titans._

On one hand, clear and obvious as the sun itself, this was a perfectly acceptable plan given the insanity of the situation. These two titans appeared to have no problem embarking on the duty of the military themselves and were currently pushing the boulder towards the breach with no sign of changing their motive. If they continued in their heading, they would finish the job the Survey Corps and Garrison had undertaken and the mission could be declared a raging success, the first real victory over the titans humanity had ever seen.

On the other, glaring perhaps purely to Janice, the sheer idea of defending two of those lumbering monstrosities, whether they were assisting humanity or not, sent the first real feeling of disgust she had felt in a long time slithering through her gut. She had escaped life as a mere farmer, a rancher and run off to join the military and spent years training in order to carry out a long overdue vengeance she intended to keep administering until the day she died. Janice had never expected to live a long life, nor had she wanted to. All she cared to do was kill as many titans as the world would grant her before that day came.

And now here she was. Defending them.

"Janice?"

She looked over to see Armin, whose squad had merged with hers, looking back with concern in his eyes.

"Are you okay? You like you're going to be sick?"

Realizing that she probably had been making a face well earning of attention, Janice wiped her face as clean to go back to the passive and cold look that she wore usually. Though before she could even mutter a single syllable word claiming her normality, Mikasa spoke from her other side.

"She's fine."

They both looked to the taller girl who hadn't looked over.

"She's just a little at odds with the situation."

Annoyed that she had just been told her business, Janice realized with a start that Ackerman had been completely, if a little underwhelmingly, right. At odds was exactly how she was with the situation and she felt no need to belabor the point any further as Armin nodded briskly in clear agreement.

"Yeah… I can't even fathom… they have to be aberrants like the Armored and Colossal titans, but they're helping us for some reason. I can't imagine why a titan would choose to help humanity over its own kind, it doesn't make any sense. They must have intelligence of some kind, why else would they know what needed to be done here in order to seal and breach and… "

Nanaba whipped her head back, a glare in her eyes.

"Three of you! Zip it!"

While Armin had been the only one really running his mouth, the three of them snapped off sharp confirmations as their combined squad neared the edge of the wall.

"We'll be near the Captain's squad, close to the breach. That will have the most activity so we should be kept fairly busy. Don't expect that the day will get any easier, and only fall back if you need to refill on gas or blades, and only do so after informing a squadmate."

The whole squad shouted confirmation at this and upon hearing it, Nanaba curved and led her run into a tight jump that the dozen soldiers following her replicated to the best of their abilities. Bringing up the rear, Janice fell obediently with the rest and drew blades, though for the first time since she had donned her military attire, she didn't feel like using them.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

His muscles groaned against his brain as Eren continued the arduous task of sealing the breach. It was as simple as it was tedious, though the sheer anxiety of what he was doing kept him from growing tired with his body or with the situation at hand.

As the sun had begun to beam over the top of the wall, Eren had looked up to see what looked like a swarm of insects falling towards him; it was only after they leveled out and began to split up and take up positions all around him did Eren's strained mind piece together that they were indeed soldiers, men and women of the military out on some fresh mission.

 _I really REALLY hope they realize what we're trying to do here and don't try and eliminate us. I don't know how I would have to defend myself, but I WOULD have to…_

But the soldiers hadn't made any move towards him or the Female type titan next to him. They alighted on the rooftops around the both of them, clinging to walls, standing on buildings and Eren even watched as some of them raised their arms and seemed to be cheering them on.

 _So they do understand._

Relief, as brief as it was, played a calming tune in his gut, but his mind quickly refocused on what he was doing. Besides, his mind had already been well at work trying to piece together the origin of the titan making his job easier.

She was so clearly a she, more so than any titan Eren had ever seen or heard described. Her eyes burned with a clear fire of intelligence, but not once since they had started moving had she looked his direction or made eye contact.

 _Why? Is she… frightened of me? Worried I might attack her if she looks over? Is it someone I know?_

That last had sent Eren's mind into a storm of theories; he wondered that, if this was a titan with an origin the same as his, maybe it was someone who had been in similar straits to Eren before his transformation, someone just trying to escape who was forced into a situation where they had changed like he had. Or perhaps it was someone who was aware of their power, who had transformed before and had seen a chance to right a scenario that clearly had nothing beyond a negative outcome. Of everything though, Eren wondered most of all if it was someone he knew.

 _How could I possibly tell?_

He didn't know how much his titan form resembled him, though in his fit of panic earlier he was fairly certain he had seen black hair, not matching his normal brown. He also was aware of the fact that he could open his mouth far wider than a normal human, and even well beyond that of a normal titan. A terrifying memory flashed through him as he thought of the smiling and gaping maw of the titan who had devoured his…

 _NO!_

Eren forced himself to think of something other than that terrible day; if he didn't resemble his titan, and his titan didn't resemble him, then it was quite possible that this titan was a similar case.

 _Blonde hair… that's really all I have to go on._

He though to Annie and Krista, wondering madly if the titan could possibly be either of them. They had been a part of the initial counterattack after the breach, they had been around. Perhaps…

 _No. It can't be someone I know._

Something made this statement blindly true in his head and he didn't think twice of it. All that mattered now was pushing this boulder the rest of the distance to where it would truly serve humanity, and the Female titan seemed to understand this. That was all that was presently important and Eren mentally chastised himself for letting his mind wander in a time like this.

 _What the hell are you doing, throwing around crazy theories in a time like this? Just once can you focus on what's best for humanity and not what's best for yourself? What would…_

He blinked.

 _What would Mikasa say?_

Despite himself, Eren began to wonder if one of the soldiers that surrounded him was Mikasa, or Armin, or Sasha, people he knew. Against his better judgment as well as the mental scolding he had just given himself, he felt his eyes flick around to soldiers that ran along the rooftops, flitting about like small birds, but his searching returned nothing of recognition.

 _After everything that happened… after everything that was lost… can I really still hold out hope that they're all still okay?_

If he had been able to laugh in his titan form, he would have.

 _Of course I can. Hope is all I have._

Opening his mouth, he let out another tremendous bellow that seemed to shake the vey street itself before throwing all this strength into pushing again with as much willpower as he could manage.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Twisting her head to aim her gaze in the direction of the sudden, deafening roar, Mikasa had only a split second to confirm that it had indeed come from one of the titans pushing the boulder before she directed her attention back to the titan beneath her; it reached up to try and intercept her decent as though she were a fly. Loosing a sharp burst of gas from her ODM gear in reverse, she fell alongside the hand instead of into its open palm and drove her left blade into its arm to slow her fall without wasting more of her supply. Upon reaching its shoulder, she kicked off and over its neck, bringing her blades around in a neat slash the way she had done so many times that day. Before its body had even crashed to its knees, she had alighted on the nearest roof to assess what lay ahead of her.

"Nice kill."

Mikasa looked over at the compliment; she hadn't even noticed Captain Rico just next to her and her lack of attention made her worry.

 _Why am I so… distracted?_

Realizing that the captain was by herself, Mikasa looked around the neighboring buildings, spotting no one else.

"Captain, your squad, are they… ?"

Rico laughed then, a strangely melodic sound mixed with the sounds of titan footsteps, screaming soldiers and ODM gear.

"We've never really done the whole 'squad' thing in combat, we just show up all in tight formation for effect."

Watching two soldiers a couple blocks away collapse another titan, she seemed to be fighting back a grim smile.

"They work best free and on the move, not by following my orders or some tight military doctrine."

She looked over at Mikasa, a raised eyebrow present.

"Rather like you, I think."

The statement could have been a compliment for all the previous things Rico had said, but Mikasa didn't know how to respond to it other than offering a muttered word of thanks. Nodding, Rico turned at the sharp sound of gas being released in a short burst.

"Ackerman! What are you doing just… ? Ah, Captain!"

Mikasa turned as well to see Nanaba and Janice having just landed behind them. The Scout seemed to look at the Garrison captain with something regarding amusement for the briefest moment.

"Never got a chance to say hi. Been a while."

Rico looked back out over the carnage.

"Not nearly long enough, though, if you still remember what I do."

In a surprising show, Mikasa watched Nanaba blush and then turn into the increasing sunlight to hide the change on her face.

"You make it sound as though that was something I would ever be able to forget."

"You mean you haven't tried?"

A brief pause that was just awkward enough to cause Mikasa to flick her eyes to Janice who rolled hers in turn.

"You still haven't ever told me you regret it."

"What makes you think I do?"

Another pause.

"This… we shouldn't be talking about this right now."

Rico cleared her throat, adopting a much more imposing tone.

"Yes, we have a fight to win."

She walked up the edge of the roof, one foot on the brink of it.

"Buy you a drink afterwards?"

Nanaba's question was posed in an almost unbelievably shy way, and while Rico didn't look back, Mikasa thought she saw the Captain's cheeks twitch in the sign of a smile.

"We'll see."

The Garrison soldier was over the side then, with the Scout just behind her. Mikasa looked back to Janice who shook her head.

"Currently defending two titans as they attempt to seal a breach for us in the first real counterattack humanity has ever mustered, and the two of them are talking like farmgirl sweethearts. Classy."

She walked up alongside Mikasa, and the taller girl noticed that there was a slight limp in her step.

"I'm going through the hole to deal with the titans on the other side."

This gave Mikasa cause to frown and look at her reproachfully.

"We have orders to clear titans that make it through as well as any within a direct line of the boulder and the breach."

Janice didn't look at her or offer any further words and Mikasa walked up to her.

"Captain Levi's squad is dealing with the majority of the titans on the other side of the wall, we have precise orders to remain here and… "

"Fuck the orders."

This was hardly something that Mikasa was surprised Janice would say, but there was a bite to it that caught her off guard.

"Janice, we aren't going to pull something stupid in the middle of an operation this important. Let's go find Armin and the rest and get back to… "

"There's no 'we' here, Ackerman."

Hardly in the mood to be interrupted a second time, Mikasa felt an anger building in her gut that was most unlike her; once again, Janice seemed to be pushing all the right buttons to get under her skin and was doing a fine job of it.

"Look, you seem to be a little confused about what's happening. We have a chance to allow the breach to be sealed and by consequence save the district and earn the first real win for humanity over the titans in recorded history. Each and every one of us has a part to play in pulling this off, and now you seem to be ready to throw that aside for… what, exactly?"

Cold eyes focused on the ragged breach in the wall, Mikasa would have believed Janice hadn't registered a single word she said if not for the fact that she replied moments later.

"No, Ackerman, you're the one who's confused."

She finally looked over and while her face was just as maddeningly passive and chilled as it always was, there may have been the slightest heat behind her eyes.

"I didn't join the military to protect the things that I swore years ago to wipe from the face of the earth."

Mikasa's mind flashed her back suddenly; she was sitting on a boat beside Armin, surrounded by countless strangers, all packed together like sheep as the ship slogged its way slowly to what was being described as safety. Just ahead of them, Eren stood, fists clenched and body shaking. They both wanted to stand and help him, provide him with some level of comfort, but the fire that was burning in him wouldn't hesitate to flash out and scorch them too. Eren snarled of killing the titans that had invaded his hometown, and eradicating each and every one of them from the face of the earth, just as Janice had said now. It was a foolish promise, and an ultimately empty one; Mikasa had heard it muttered by dozens of grudging cadets, not just Eren, and she knew that for each of them, the promise would eventually come back to haunt them.

"I will go kill titans in support of this mission, but I will do so far away from those monsters, even if command says they are aiding us."

She made to vault over the edge of the building and Mikasa reached out caught her bad arm. The shorter girl hissed in pain and looked over, black hair whipping around her face.

"You're willing to risk being drummed out for insubordination? You're all ready to get what you want and join the Survey Corps and you would throw that away just because you won't defend a couple of titan?"

She knew then that her choice of words had been very poor indeed. Janice yanked her arm away and drew fresh blades, fixing Mikasa with one last cold stare.

"That's right."

And over the edge she went, shooting along the ground towards the breach. Mikasa stood alone atop the roof for several seconds, feeling the sudden, terribly obvious silence that had come then. She looked to her left and saw Armin, a dot in the distance among the rest of their squad, obeying orders and keeping any titans from coming near the boulder. She then looked ahead to where her fellow cadet and taken off in the direction of and dropped a terribly foul curse, something else highly unlike her. Then, she hopped over the wall and took off after Janice.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The wall was terribly close then, as Eren looked up to see the immense shade that had suddenly been cast over them. He knew in that moment, that only a few more seconds and he would see the frame of the breach around them and them only a minute more and the hole would be sealed and the day would be won. Glancing over at the Female titan who still hadn't looked at him once, he began to feel a rising sense of elation, enough to cause even the insurmountable feelings of fear and anxiety begin to quell.

 _We can do this. We're going to do this. And then… I can find out what happened to me._

He wanted that almost more than for the mission to be a success and he cursed his own greed.

 _But… I have to know. What is this power I have? Can I control it? Can I switch between myself and this… by will? Can I even…_

Eren was cut off in his musings then as the boulder seemed to double in weight. He crashed against it as his pushing ceased to be effective.

 _What?_

He looked around then, looking for whatever had caused his burden to increase drastically. And as he did, he felt fear, not for himself, but for that what he saw meant.

The Female titan was standing just behind him now, hands now longer on the boulder. She was looking at him, unblinking and cold stare drilling into his. If not for what he already had seen, he could have dismissed her for a statue, her only movements coming from her hair that was tossed gently in the morning breeze.

 _What are you doing?!_

His question came out as nothing more than a roar as he gave the boulder another shove for emphasis; it barely moved, and Eren knew that without her, his task would be far steeper. She looked him up and down then, as though trying to get a read on whatever she saw. Then, slowly, but deliberately, she nodded, low and long. Eren stared at her in disbelief, trying to decipher what he was seeing.

 _What is she doing… she can't…_

But even as he pondered desperately what the Female titan was doing, she slammed a heel into the ground and turned, sprinting away faster then Eren could have possibly imagined, ducking behind buildings and disappearing in a matter of seconds.

His mind screamed options at him; charge after her, or finish what they had started. It was obvious, clearly. Finish the mission and gain the trust of the soldiers around him, claiming victory for humanity. But…

 _She knows… SHE KNOWS._

And he roared as the torment of indecision glared down on him alongside the sun as it blazed high in the sky.


	14. Chapter 14

"I can't be any more clear… on how clear I am being. It just happened."

"It just happened."

Swallowing down his frustration which had built to dangerous levels since he had been placed in the small room, Eren exhaled slowly out his nose.

"I was swallowed by a titan during the evacuation. At some point in its stomach, I became a titan myself."

"You've said that."

Furrowing his brow, Eren resisted the wild temptation to stand up and shake sense into the Military Police officer across from him, who had done nothing beyond listen to all of Eren's explanations and respond with infuriatingly disbelieving tones.

"Then what more can I say?! I've told you everything I know, I don't know how I managed to transform myself twice, and I don't know how I was able to turn back into a human."

"It said here… that after pushing the boulder into place, you bludgeoned yourself with a church steeple until you collapsed… then you appeared unconscious out of the nape of the titan you were sealed in."

"That's also what I've been told."

"The Scouts who witnessed this wisely informed no one else, and they three, along with myself and a couple other big names in both the Scouts and MP's, are the only ones who know of your existence."

He stated this all as fact, but Eren couldn't help but detect what seemed to be a very genuine threat beneath his words.

"Listen officer… "

"Captain Nile to you, cadet."

"Captain, please, I didn't know I had this ability until what happened happened. And even then, what did I do that has me locked in this room, I assume underground, like some kind of monster?"

Nile cocked his head and looked as though he was resisting the urge to smile.

"You can turn into a titan, kid. I think some kind of monster is an excellent definition of what you are."

Eren sat back, wishing he could run his chained wrists through his hair. Of course he hadn't expected the military to welcome him out of the confines of his titan with open arms, but he had saved not only the operation but had scored massively for humanity in the process. He had heard guards outside his door talking about the throngs of people who had run back into the streets, overjoyed and ready to take back their homes while the Garrison struggled to maintain order amongst the happiness and chaos. It was a small comfort to Eren listening to them talk, when they clearly had no idea that he who they were guarding had no idea he was the miracle titan that had helped to reclaim the district. He was being treated like an outcast and a villain, when all he really wanted was answers just like everyone else.

Nile crossed a leg over his lap and leaned back.

"Since I do feel like, for the most part, you're being straight with me, I'll try and play relatively the same way."

Eren swallowed as he looked at the growing seriousness on the other man's face.

"It won't be long before word of who you are, and what you are comes out. We can't very well hide this, and we don't really want to. You've shown your ability to help humanity, even if that help is still shrouded in mystery."

"I already said that… !"

The captain held up a hand, cutting him off into silence.

"I imagine what will be done after the whole of humanity has heard about the amazing Eren Jaeger, able to turn himself into a titan at will, will be to determine what is best to be done with you. I don't think anyone will doubt your usefulness, I sure don't. But what everyone WILL doubt, is your motive."

"My… motive?"

 _He can't be serious. He thinks I'm like the Armored or Colossal titans? That I want to destroy all of humanity? What, just have the Colossal wreck the inside of the wall and then send me to fix it to gain their trust and then…_

Eren stopped his train of thought as it horrifyingly began to make sense. Nile seemed to catch on to Eren's realization of the danger of him and nodded impressively.

"Yeah, see? We'll need to go through probably a whole trial, get a bunch of testimonies, but I think to really help your case… "

He leaned forward and Eren could finally see real life in his eyes as the question he clearly had been dying to ask almost fell from his mouth.

"Who exactly was the other titan with you?"

It was a question that Eren had now had the pleasure of shaking his head apologetically at thrice; he hadn't been able to tell Captain Rico when she locked him in the room, he hadn't been able to tell PIxis when the older man had had a chance to stop by, and now he couldn't tell Nile either.

"I wish I knew. I really do, but she was just there. Like me."

The lameness of his answer was almost painfully obvious and he cursed himself for no other reason than being angry in general, as Nile let out a disappointed noise and leaned back again.

Eren had been slamming the question against his conscience for hours now; he had gone through every possibly candidate for who they Female titan could have been, but there was nothing there but theories and uncertainties. He knew that it was someone with more knowledge about their power than he had, and someone who had the capability to control it to a far better capacity than he did. He had relayed this information already, and while at least somewhat intriguing, it didn't help even remotely at uncovering the identity of the person. It was driving him crazy, but the last thing he could do was tell some lie that would surely only darken what was already seeming to be turning into a fairly bleak situation for him.

"Do you believe me?"

It was a stupid question and one that made him seem incredibly vulnerable, but he felt that of everything, in that moment, he needed to know. Nile raised an eyebrow at him as he stood.

"Doesn't matter, kid."

He knocked on the door and it was promptly opened by the two guards just beyond. Looking back and shook his head very gently at Eren.

"I don't know what to make of you. But you should know that there are plenty who will see it as the much more appropriate option to kill you then to let you live."

And with that single piece of oh-so uplifting advice, the door closed and Eren was left feeling far less hopeful than he had when Nile had entered.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"Did you hear? Turns out that the titan, the one that didn't run off, that was pushing the boulder? He wasn't a titan, man, he was a guy the whole time!"

"Bull-fucking-shit."

"He's not lying, they've been having the squad leaders and officers going around letting everyone know, say that it's supposed to be common knowledge by supper."

"You guys gotta be screwing with me."

"Nope, not even a little. Just some cadet, not even in a division yet, and the fucker can turn into a damn titan."

"I guess it's a pretty damn good thing I haven't been assigned yet, I'd like to make sure I get into whatever group he's going to… any division that has a frickin' titan is one that I'm all about."

"Are you kidding? If you're telling the truth, I want to be as far away from something like that as possible."

"What? It helped plug up the damn hole, for God's sakes! You think it's… he's not an ally?"

"I'm saying it doesn't change the fact that, for the most part, it sounds like we still don't know a lot about this guy. Being able to possess a titan… "

"I thought he could transform, like, INTO one… "

"Whatever. Point is, someone like that, some power like that, it can't go unchecked and honestly, I don't really know if that's something we can ever really trust."

"I say just send him to the Scouts, have the Captain keep an eye on him."

"THAT makes more sense, if he ever does decide to try some shit, Levi puts him down like THAT."

"Maybe… do you think the Colossal and Armored titans? Do you think they're like him?"

"Hard to rule something like that out now… "

Mikasa pushed her drink gently back and forth between her fingers, listening to the raucous sound of the bar full of other soldiers and cadets discuss the newest development that had become available in the past several minutes.

Since the operation had come to a close and all squads save for one had been ordered back to what was deemed a demilitarized zone, the top commanders had issued essentially a recess until the evening and they were ordered to form back up. Every soldier and cadet had been given the allowance for a single, free drink by the admittance of an extremely grateful owner of one of the larger and more well-known bars in the district and had been happily dishing them out ever since the first soldiers had arrived. Mikasa had followed along simply due to the fact that Nanaba had wanted to get in on the free drink, though Janice had muttered that it was probably for a different reason entirely. Blushing, with the red clashing marvelously with her short blonde hair, Nanaba had threatened Janice with all kinds of meager military discipline for disrespecting a superior, but the anger had vanished relatively quickly when they had reached the bar.

Inside had been packed, and had only grown worse in the past hour since the word had spread. Mikasa didn't have a clue what to think of what she had first thought to be as a rumor, but now had been confirmed by multiple people that it was true. The titan that had pushed the boulder to the breach, was a human. A cadet, someone very much like them.

 _Do I know him? Could he be someone from our Corps?_

She had landed eyes on Jean and Connie since the operation had ended, but there were plenty more of young men she hadn't seen. To think that perhaps for years, she had trained alongside someone who had turned out to be a titan…

"What do you think?"

Janice spoke low, but loudly enough that Mikasa could hear her over the racket inside the pub. The taller girl shrugged her shoulders and sipped at her drink.

"I don't think I know enough to come to any real conclusion."

Janice snorted.

"What's to know? Person we probably have known for a while turned out to be a titan and now, we have to figure out what we're going to do with that information."

She furrowed her brow in slight annoyance.

"How come we had to hear this through everyone else? Squad leaders were supposed to spread this information to the rest of us… "

Mikasa looked behind her to where Nanaba and Rico were sitting at a booth, considerably closer then when they had sat down.

"I think our squad leader has a little more on her mind than that."

Janice followed her gaze and rolled her eyes.

"Now, of all times, they want to ignite some long lost love or something. Fuckin' adorable."

She brought her own drink up, which had gone down much faster than Mikasa's.

"You good here?"

Mikasa looked over in confusion as Janice got up; the shorter girl seemed to sense the inherent intimacy of her question and shrugged.

"I'm gonna go look for Cedric is all."

Nodding and turning back forwards, Mikasa glanced down.

"Yeah, go for it."

She had more dignity than to make a snarky remark about Janice running off to look for a boy, spending years training with Jean and Connie had unwillingly trained her mind to have smartass comments on hand however. Besides, she knew that Janice hunting down Cedric was probably much more about giving him a good talking to about why he spread the word that she had deserted her squad in the middle of live combat. For whatever reason, she hadn't been disciplined by any of the joint officers commanding the evacuation, but the fact remained that most of the 104th as well as any soldier involved with the evacuation near the breach knew that she had run off in what was essentially wartime. And Cedric had been the one spreading the word.

Sitting back and sighing, Mikasa turned her head casually to see Nanaba appearing to try and eat Rico's neck.

What a bizarre afternoon this had turned out to be.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Stepping out into the afternoon sun, Janice blinked and squinted against the light. It had a different effect from the light that had pierced their eyes that morning; this sun shone with harshness, but far less urgency. It reminded her of exactly what kind of scolding she was going to give Cedric when she found him.

She marched through the streets where civilians were filing reports with on-duty soldiers and off-duty ones wandered around, in states of bragging or humility. Rolling her head around at every person she saw, she made careful note of each face and crossing it off in the second it took to recognize his big, round face.

It began to get to her as she walked that this behavior was tremendously unlike her. She had never cared about others talking behind her back in the past, so why was this so different? Because of what it meant in regards to the opinion of her among all other cadets who had heard his story? Because she thought of him as a… friend?

 _No, don't be stupid. If he goes around telling people poorly of you, then that could reach the ears of someone who could actually do something about it, it already has. I got lucky once, but that's far too great a risk to assume it couldn't happen again._

Tremendously satisfied with her own answer, she continued walking and searching. She knew Cedric had been assigned to a sweeper team, whose job was to go about the streets and check the inhabitants of any houses that had been evacuated to see if anyone had remained, after asking an attendance officer. Again, he had been placed in a group far from her, and she almost wondered if he had been asking for these assignments with initiative, perhaps to avoid her. Her apathetic heart swam with a short rush of satisfaction, that Cedric might be squirming and dreaded the thought of facing her after everything he had told the others, and couldn't bear the thought of having to see her again and face what he knew was likely…

"JANICE!"

She didn't have time to identify the source of who had shouted her name before arms lifted around her waist and pulled her into a reverse bear hug. Immediately, she slammed a heel into the knee of whoever had assaulted her and her holder crumped like a sack of potatoes, dropping her in the process. Spinning to face whoever had just had the gall to try and HUG her, Janice drew back her foot to kick sharply at whatever face presented itself.

"Cedric?"

Freezing as she stared at the face, her foot slowly lowered itself as the young man before her groaned, hands on his knee.

"Yeah… sorry if I scared you."

Cedric smiled sheepishly up at her, then seemed to remember the excitement he had possessed not seconds ago and leapt to his feet.

"But you're alive! I looked all up and down the squads assigned to the night operation but couldn't find you! I thought that… you might have been killed, but an attendance officer said that you got paired with a Survey Corps squad!"

It was difficult to remain angry at such a happy and upbeat face, but Janice managed fine.

"Surprised you were looking for me. I would have been hiding my face, after what you pulled."

Several seconds passed as his face went from pleased to confused to regretful.

"I'm sorry. I just… was so upset at the time."

"So you went and badmouthed me to every member of our Corps that you could find?"

He looked at her, hurt in his eyes.

"No."

Crossing her arms, she looked away.

"Well, you damn may as well have."

He straightened, the hurt mixing with anger now.

"Look, you took off! The best member of our squad! Maybe if you hadn't left, they would all still be… "

"If you finish that sentence… "

About to launch into a very uncharacteristic threat, Janice let her cool return; Cedric had very nearly put her in a state of real anger, something she hadn't felt in a long time. He seemed to realize this and stopped talking, though he didn't back down in his stance. Janice suddenly found herself wondering why she had come here.

"Whatever. Just… don't say shit behind my back."

Ignoring her lame final statement, she began to walk away. She had hoped he wouldn't follow, but of course, he did.

"Janice, wait!"

Hurrying her pacing, she ignored him as well.

"We should talk about this!"

Turning her head as she walked, she spoke low and harsh.

"There's nothing that needs to be said, you've said plenty as is… "

As her position was, she didn't have her gaze ahead of her and collided forehead first into someone her height walking in the opposite direction. Mentally snarling a curse, she frowned as the person stumbled back, rubbing his head.

"Watch where you're going, you… "

She was fully prepared to reply to this sudden and harsh verbal attack before the face lifted and they both got a look at each other.

"Arlert?"

The blonde boy looked back at her momentarily before practically falling into her arms, his sudden aggressive wording gone. She gripped his upper arms and hoisted him up, looking into his eyes that flashed with panic.

"What the hell's the matter with you?"

It didn't surprise her to see the look of fear on his face, it was one she had seen many times over the past twenty-four hours. But there was no reason for such emotion now, the operation was over and it was more than time to relax; she also couldn't wrap her head around why he had started speaking to her so violently. In all the years she had known him, she had never heard him grow angry once.

"Armin? What's the matter with him?"

Cedric puffed up behind her, looking down with more concern then Janice felt was necessary.

"I don't know, he's not… "

"Janice… "

He spoke then in a wobbly tone and as he paused, she withheld her impatience as to learning what had him so bothered.

"What?"

"The cadet… in the titan… "

Suddenly, she knew exactly what he was about to say, though she hoped with every bit of herself that he wouldn't say it.

"… it's… it was Eren."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"That went well."

"Are you kidding me?! You should have pulled her out, the SECOND that… "

"Calm down, Bert. I'm fine."

"… … but you shouldn't have had to do that! That was reckless, having her stay put when we had everything… "

"We were able to get valuable insight on how the military handles matter like that in the moment. Annie is fine, and you need to calm down."

"What exactly did we learn that was so important that you risked her safety doing… "

"We learned that the military is willing to work with unknown forces, even titans, if it is of immediate advantage to them. They didn't attack Annie or the Shifter, and we should take some form of solace in that. At least relatively, we could use her again like that if we needed to."

"… … Whatever. The Shifter, what do we do about him?"

"We find out who he is. I assume there will be a military tribunal or the like deciding what will be done with him."

"All I've heard is that he was a cadet, someone who graduated with us."

"We can only hope it was someone we knew, someone who they could call us as witnesses for. From there, it would only be a matter of saying whatever is necessary to put this person somewhere where we have the best access to him."

"Alright. So until then?"

"Do what we've been doing. Keep quiet and find out what you can. We need to find out who this person is, and we need to do it quickly. Then… "

"We can go home."


	15. Chapter 15

The world seemed to be caving in slowly around her as Mikasa walked in a daze towards where she knew power much higher than her rested. She resisted the urge to kick open the door to the Military Police headquarters while Armin tailed after her, throwing meaningless pleas after her to calm down and think rationally. The time for rational thought had passed, at least for the moment; when the person who had apparently taken on titan form was before her, she would consider calming down. But for the time being, where her common sense would have been, a focused storm drove her forward.

"Hey, you can't be… "

She shouldered past two of the MP Brigade, who she could feel staring bemusedly after her, likely shocked a factionless cadet was making her way through their private abode. Mikasa was well aware of the high-minded and smug attitudes most of the Military Police displayed; from the time she had heard Hannes complain about them as a child to the stories she had heard whilst training, it was clear that the faction was given little love outside its own members.

Armin caught up to her and was shaken off again as he grabbed feebly at her elbow. She could feel his panic and concern, and was well aware that he was likely much more in control of his emotions than she was. That, or he was in too much shock to consider doing anything beyond sitting down and talking out what was happening. Mikasa didn't have time for that.

"Mikasa, please, we can't just go storming through places where we have no clearance, looking for someone who… "

"No one made you come, Armin."

Any other time, the biting chill of her tone would have given her pause, but it was as if the words had come from a source other than her own mouth. Armin may have felt resentment at them, but he only gave slight pause before blustering on.

"It doesn't matter, I don't want to see you getting into all kinds of trouble, simply because you don't have the patience to wait until… "

She whirled on him then, dark hair flying around her face; she must've donned quite the intimidating expression as she watched Armin shrink back more than usual.

"No, I don't have the damned patience, Armin, not for a moment. And I would have thought that you of all people would have been right beside me, trying to get to speak to… him."

Mikasa was barely able to afford herself even the possibility that this was an option. Eren, back from the dead, and in possession of a power greater than anything anyone within the walls could have imagined. Though she could hardly care what power he had; if he was back, that was all she needed to know.

"If you are fine waiting until the trial to see his face, you are welcome to wait outside. Otherwise I'd like you to stay behind and shut up until… "

As she began to turn back to proceed on her way, her face banged into the chest of an officer who was now standing before her.

"May I ask what in the hell the likes of you two are doing scampering around our halls?"

Despite her desperation and impatience, Mikasa was able to remember her training long enough to snap into a brisk salute which she was sure Armin was copying behind her.

"My apologies, sir, I was just hoping to speak with whoever is… "

The officer raised a large hand and looked down at her with imposing and rather unsettling eyes.

"Ah, ah, ah, let me guess, you're another couple of hopefuls hoping to get permission to gawk at the talk of the town."

He seemed to relax slightly, though he continued to gaze at them with an air of caution.

"Hate to tell you, but ain't nobody allowed to see the guy, not even most of us MP's. Couple officers and big shots are all, and even they don't really get time to see him for that long."

From behind her, Mikasa heard Armin clear his throat weakly.

"Please, Officer Sannes, we just want to confirm whether or not… "

He was interrupted as the soldier Mikasa now knew as Sannes looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"I know you, squirt?"

"Ah… yes, yes, well, I do, sir, you sorted me into my squad before the operation to seal the breach."

Still not looking with any sign of recognition, Sannes crossed his arms, and Armin took his silence to forge on in his request.

"We're friends of the… well, who we hear is the cadet who is being held and is in possession of the titan-shifting ability."

"And who might that cadet be?"

"Eren, sir. Eren Jeager."

Sannes blinked a couple times, beginning to look tired of their conversation.

"If it helps at all, I can confirm that that name is indeed the identity of the cadet we are currently holding."

A rush of fresh anxiety and energy pumping through her veins, Mikasa took a step forward as if to skirt around him.

"Please, sir, I just want to see him briefly, even if just for a… "

He caught her arm, quite unnecessarily, as her attempt went on with failure.

"Hold on now, didn't you hear what I said? No one gets to see him, especially two factionless cadets, fresh out of training."

His grip softened, and a stir of unease traveled through her as his fingers, very slowly, began working down her arm.

"Although… "

The fingers began to brush now, almost imperceptibly, as they reached the top of her hand.

"Perhaps I can arrange something for you… albeit you're willing to do me a favor."

In the moment he spoke, Mikasa knew immediately what he meant. Nearly every part of her yelled to jerk herself away from this man and to leave the building, but something kept her still as he carefully stroked her flesh. She didn't want to move, and her mind repeated over and over what he had said.

 _Are you serious, Mikasa?_

Was she really willing to partake in something disgusting and vulgar for the sake of being able to see Eren again, even if she would be able to see him relatively shortly anyway? Could she really not wait until the trial to allow her eyes to confirm if all the rumors and words she had heard were true? Was this really worth it?

Before she could even come close to making up her mind, Armin clamped his hand over her free one, as tightly as he may have ever gripped anything.

"Thank you for the confirmation, sir, sorry to waste your time."

And Mikasa was being pulled towards the door, away from the man and away from anyone who would have allowed her to see Eren. She should have been grateful for Armin for intervening as he had, but she could only feel resentment and defeat as he pulled her back out into the beaming sun.

 _Don't be stupid… you would have regretted that more than anything._

Would she have, though? Would the trade, however despicable, have been worth it, just to see him?

 _I can wait. How pathetic would I be, if I couldn't even wait until this afternoon?_

But though only hours separated her from seeing Eren, but she felt as though each of them would pass with the speed of a week. And as Armin looked back at her with worry in his eyes, she couldn't help but looking away from him as she shook her head in distress.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

A day had come and gone to the best of Eren's judgement. He had been fed a twice, once before he had fallen asleep and once after. The guards had been changed multiple times, but he hadn't been keeping track, his mind rejected the idea of keeping up with such seemingly miniscule details. All he could do was reply what Nile had told him, as he had been the only one of Eren's rare visitors to offer him anything by way of information. Granted, the information wasn't anything close to uplifting, but he the distress he had felt at how bleakly Nile had addressed his position had come to fade. Eren had already decided that if the entirety of a military tribunal felt him to be too dangerous to be kept alive, then he would have to let their judgement be the penultimate authority. Besides, he had grown to become fairly confident of his position.

 _They're scared of me, sure. They all are and I can't say that I blame them. A person who can… transform into a titan?_

The thought was one of the many that had failed to truly register in how extremely important it was.

 _But even if I am frightening and very dangerous, all I have to do is get in front of all these people and tell the truth. What can go wrong from that? I don't know how I came into possession of these powers, and I don't know how to work them, but most of all, I'm an ally of humanity. I helped seal the breach, I helped deliver humanity its first real win. I'm important and valuable, even if I am dangerous and everything that comes with that. They'll see it, they will. They'll use me to kill titans, I'll be able to go with the Scouts and kill all the titans I want, and it'll all be in the name of restoring the superiority of humanity and annihilation of titans, wherever they happen to…_

"Judging by what you've probably heard, and judging by what you probably understand, I would think you would have wanted to put on a better show than this."

Eren promptly became aware of two very crucial things as his attention returned to reality; firstly, his mouth had opened in what likely a very unsettling smile and drool had dripped to the covers of his bed, and he was quick to wipe the expression. Secondly, he had been joined silently in his room by a man whose size would have been laughable, if Eren hadn't immediately recognized the person.

"Captain Levi."

A slight twitch of the eyebrows came that may have resembled something close to understanding.

"Correct. I figured I'd stop in and see you as your trial is coming very quickly."

He took two short paces to his right and sat down in the chair that had last been occupied by Nile.

"Are you nervous?"

Eren had heard this question a hundred times over the last several years, coming from Mikasa, Armin, Sasha, Connie, or really anyone he was taking an exam with, practical or otherwise. Nerves were something that had to be countered and overcome, and while Eren had always shrugged the question aside in annoyance, he had always been secretly grateful for their concern. Save for Mikasa, who had made it her sworn duty in life to hound him ten times worse than his parents ever had. But hearing the question from the Survey Corps captain did nothing but raise hairs on Eren's neck; there was no compassion or concern there.

"Not… particularly."

"Really."

Eren had answered honestly and wondered if Levi could tell. Nonetheless, he nodded firmly.

"I'm not. I have no reason to be worried as long as this case is about deciding whether or not I am a threat to humanity."

"Aren't you?"

"Well, yes… if I had any motive to… I'm not like the Colossal or Armored titans!"

He burst out suddenly as he caught himself stammering. Levi narrowed his eyes.

"What do you know about them?"

Getting ahold of himself, Eren looked down.

"Nothing, captain. But I have a pretty strong feeling that they are like me in that they are able to transform from a human to a titan. They are the only previously recorded accounts of titans behaving with real intelligence and they were built unlike any titan we have seen previously. I believe them to possess a similar ability to mine."

Levi leaned back, regarding Eren through unreadable eyes.

"It seems you've given this a great deal of thought."

Eren nodded again. Popping his neck, Levi stood and paced the room slowly.

"Let me understand this as best I can. I've been over the particulars over and over with other officers and soldiers, enough to make me thoroughly sick of the topic, but I still want to make sure I have this straight."

He gestured with an air of repulsion at Eren's chest.

"You have harnessed the ability to not only possess a titan, but generate one from essentially thin air. In this form you remain intelligent and aware of your surroundings, enough to allow yourself the capacity to influence them, well in control of yourself."

Eren nodded once more.

"Yes, sir."

"And am I right in saying that you truly and honestly haven't the slightest idea how you have come into possession of such an ability, nor are aware of the identity of the other titan who, alongside you, sealed the breach in the wall?"

Wishing desperately he could say otherwise, Eren looked back down.

"No, sir, I do not."

Levi made a sound that almost sounded disappointed.

"Pity. Well, regardless, you should know that the Survey Corps will be present at your trial and will be fighting for you in regards to asserting that you are much more readily advantageous to humanity rather than otherwise."

The words slowly began to move a sense of elation through Eren's stomach, which promptly fell away as the captain leaned on his bedframe.

"But be well aware also that if you do reveal that your intentions are other than what you have stated, should you betray the fragile trust we and those like us have placed in you, you will die by my hand before a word can leave you."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"This is completely insane."

Connie tossed his orders on the table in front of him and shook his head bleakly. Mikasa glanced down at hers, though they were identical to his, save for the particulars in whom they were addressed to.

She sat around a fireplace alongside several other members of the 104th; Armin sat beside her and was chewing at the inside of his mouth almost frantically; Connie was in a complete daze, having repeated for the umpteenth time the insanity of the situation before them; Reiner sat next to Bertholdt, and for once, looked just as nervous as his companion, though he was trying hard not to show it; Janice and Cedric were sitting next to each other, though the distance between them indicated she had not yet seen fit to pass forgiveness. Annie was the only one standing and shrugged as she looked down at the orders and then back to the raging fire.

"So what? We're still being summoned and we'll all likely be called to testify."

Connie threw his hands up like a windmill as he collapsed back onto the couch.

"And say what?! That we knew he was a titan?! 'Oh sorry everyone, I thought it was public knowledge that someone I talked to, laughed with, trained with, slept near, and was friends with for YEARS happened to be able to turn himself into a fucking titan."

"Honestly Connie, that about sums up how I was going to open my testimony, save for the sleeping bit."

Ymir had walked up with Krista beside her, the latter looking as nervous as Armin and the former looking as thoroughly amused as she ever had been. Mikasa resisted the temptation to stand and knock the smirk off her face as Reiner looked to her, bemused.

"You mean to tell me this doesn't surprise you in the slightest?"

Laughing and pushing Cedric over to drop down beside him, Ymir shook her head.

"Yeah, Reiner, completely unsurprised. Totally fucking cool."

He snorted and shook his head back as he looked towards the same fire that Annie was staring into. Krista threw her hands up, similar to Connie, panic on her face as she cried out.

"What is this?! We're just all having to accept what Eren is?! A titan disguised as a human?"

Cedric picked at the back of his hand woefully.

"It may be the other way around… "

Mikasa had been well aware that Janice had been staring at her since they had all taken their places around the fireplace in the now less-occupied bar, but she hadn't met her eyes. She broke that period of no eye contact, however, when she heard Janice address her.

"Mikasa. You knew him better than probably anyone here. Did you… "

She was well aware that the question was "did you know Eren was a titan?" but Mikasa simply looked back to the fire. That question wasn't worth answering and she was honestly insulted that Janice had seen fit to ask it. Finally, she felt Janice's eyes leave the side of her head as Connie leaned forward, rocking on his knees and looking as though he would be sick.

"Insane. Completely."

"Completely."

Ymir echoed his word choice, smile slightly less apparent on her eternally smug face. Silence slowly fell over the lot of them, until minutes later as a redheaded Garrison soldier hurried up to them.

"Um… if you lot have summons to the trial… well, it's starting in half an hour."

She looked around as though waiting for a response before swallowing awkwardly and backing away. Slowly and one by one, they all began to stand, save for Mikasa who stood faster than any of them. Finally, she would be able to see for herself, and finally know if Eren truly had come back to her.


	16. Chapter 16

"… so obviously you wouldn't be surprised to find out that we'll be fighting pretty hard to make sure they don't try and turn you into some half-assed science experiment, even though, if I'm being completely honest, I wouldn't mind getting inside and having a look around at whatever's going on in you that's different from the rest of us that lets you do what you do… but the rest of command in the Scouts would never allow that, and that's assuming your case is in fact won, and we are granted supervision over you, but if you assume that… "

Eren's eyes were drifting almost blearily in and out of focus by this point; since the entrance of the highly eccentric Hange Zoe, he wouldn't have guessed that she would have bored him at any point, given her upbeat and hyper attitude. But after several assurances that she and the rest of the Survey Corps would be fighting for his survival in the ever near trial, he had come to realize that she was not going to repeat to him any information that hadn't already been relayed to him by Levi. He had attempted to pay attention to what she was saying, but his politeness only went so far, and it didn't seem that his attentiveness mattered much to her anyway. The squad leader continued to spout theories in an endless run-on sentence and he was brought back to his days of training, sitting in on military theory classes where Mikasa obediently took notes for him to study later while Armin hissed at him to keep him awake.

 _Who is this woman trying to convince with all this? I don't need to be told that this is all something of importance… I AM the damn importance._

But he knew that this was simply how this woman was, no matter what he thought was going through her head. There was nothing he could do to try and understand how a mind like this worked, any more than he could fathom what was going through Jean's head, when he would start his long-winded explanations of why the Scouts were imbeciles and why the Military Police was the only smart option.

"… I'm expecting someone to be along to collect you here at any moment, but we've already been waiting for quite a while and as I wouldn't be surprised if they were to change the time, or even date, of something as important as this, you know, for the sake of gathering all the witnesses they'll want, and wanting to make sure there are absolutely no technical problems with what's about to happen… "

The only real thing that was keeping him from closing his eyes and drifting off was apprehension. Eren didn't know very much about the proceedings outside his door, but he was aware enough to know that there was an imminent trial that would determine whether he lived or died. While he was still very confident in his survival by its end, the mere thought of the event was enough to worry him; this woman's ramblings were not helping that.

"… how they can rule to have you put down, I can't honestly see the sense in it, as long as a ready soldier is around like Levi to take you down if you expose any hostilities, I think there shouldn't be any worry that you can't be handled… "

Eren let out an audible sigh; he had attempted already to explain his position and how he hadn't any intention of betraying humanity, of how he could be its strongest champion if they would just trust him, but she had only smiled and nodded the same way he was nodding at her now. His words didn't matter to her at the moment, and she seemed positively enthralled at every facet of what was happening around her. Eren also had the impression that this was a conversation that he didn't need to be present for since she was, in essence, talking to herself. But as he blew out his breath, she seemed to remember that she wasn't alone; from behind her glasses, her eyes fixed on him, wide and imposing, and Eren fought down the impression that he was being considered as though he were a lab specimen.

"You say something?"

Fully prepared to offer a shake of his head, Eren stopped himself when he realized this may be one of his only opportunities to get a word in edgewise.

"I was just wondering… do you know who they'll be calling as witnesses?"

She smiled, not hardly for the first time.

"Well, that's just as big a thing for both your defense and prosecution. The tribunal is simply gathering people who either knew you while you were in training or before, and people who witnessed your actions as a titan. Because this is all being put together with the intent of a swift and honest trial, neither side is going to be able to decide which witnesses they want to use more handily than others,,, say, someone who was close to you isn't likely to say anything that would lead to a verdict that called for your execution, and vice versa."

Her words struck an odd feeling inside Eren. Who would be called as a witness? Mikasa and Armin, surely. If of course, they had managed to…

 _Don't. They're fine._

He wondered if they would call Jean to testify. Would he allow something as insignificant as their rivalry to determine if he gave a prejudiced view of Eren? Or would he be honest, as best as he was able? Eren went through the list of cadets who had been closest to him, trying to fathom what they might say in his defense, or otherwise, as Hange continued to blather on ahead of him. He had trouble believing that any one of his fellow cadets would say anything about him slanderous enough to lead to his execution: would any of them have hated him enough to lie and skew evidence? Or the other way around?

"… it'll be likely that we'll have an inordinate amount of witnesses, as such, but I wouldn't worry about them taking too much time with each of them, they'll likely just try and get a general gist of what they all thought of you and try to use them all to create and generalize an idea of whether or not you are a friend to humanity, so I hope for your sake that you didn't manage to rile up any… "

A sharp click of the doorknob sounded and they both turned as Nile entered the room, an appraising look about him as his eyes passed over Hange.

"Surprised you didn't make it in here sooner. Though I suppose Erwin probably had the brains to make sure you didn't want to come in here and try and give yourself a titan baby."

His comment was enough to catch Eren off guard and redden his cheeks, but Hange simply looked back at the man with an air of someone who knew a great deal more than who they were conversing with.

"If I had, I would have locked the door."

Nile snorted and looked back towards the door handle almost with what seemed to be an involuntary jerk.

"Hope you haven't been feeding the kid a more pleasing-to-the-ear testimony, we want the truth after all."

"I have no doubt that Eren will tell the truth."

Partially appreciative of her words, Eren couldn't help also feeling uneasy at how she had come to that conclusion after spending a brief amount of time with him and even less time getting to know him. Nile seemed bored with the conversation he had started as he moved in with four other armed Garrison soldiers, key in hand.

"Whatever. Time to face the music, cadet."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The room wasn't as large as Janice had been expecting, but it made up for that in how imposing it was. She had seen paintings of the courthouse in the center of the Royal Capital, and while it had been tremendously larger, it had reeked visually of the stains of the rich; white and glossy with large, stain glass windows, and an air that, even if you were being tried, you were to be treated like royalty.

The courtroom of Trost was nothing like that. Bleak, wooden and with tinted windows that dimly lit the entire room, it seemed as though they were in the mouth of some ancient monster, slowly yawning after a long slumber. Janice knew that they were over a story up, but couldn't shake the feeling that they were underground.

She stood between Connie and Annie, just three among a long line of who she assumed were to be called forward as witnesses. She recognized several including the cadets she had been sitting with minutes prior as well as Instructor Shadis and a few of their other trainers. Several she hadn't a bearing on, such as a blonde Garrison soldier with a bleary, attentive look. She wondered if he was related to Eren before dismissing the idea entirely. No way someone that content-looking was related to him.

Shaking her head, she closed her eyes briefly. She was feeling none of the nerves she could see reflected shamelessly in the eyes of Connie and Bertholdt, but it still was difficult to believe that of all the cadets amongst the 104th, of all the people within the walls, period, Eren had turned out to be the one who possessed the power to control a titan. She hadn't been so at odds with the idea that she had rushed off like Mikasa, demanding proof, but the idea still seemed ridiculous, if only ironically. She had never known Eren by any serious way outside of physical training testing, where the both of them had been paired due to skill level. She hadn't been unfamiliar with his ramblings over complete destruction of the titans, and she could see that fervor in his eyes as she had trained with him. The fury and animosity he held within him had been obvious; Janice had long since stopped truly feeling that emotions were worth a damn, and had thus tried distancing herself from them, but she could never resist being drawn to the hateful aura that Eren had exuded. But had all that been a sham? A man who could control a titan, after he had had so strongly boasted of planning to eradicate every single one? Was it all nothing more than a ploy?

She still didn't have a proper grasp on the power that Eren held; had he been able to take control of a random titan with the lightning she had seen, or did that lightning generate a new titan entirely? She remembered seeing his titan form alongside the boulder while she had ignored orders and slipped off to fight the titans outside the breach, and had recalled the distinct toothy mouth, feral eyes and ears, and strong proportions she couldn't reflect having ever been described on a titan before.

 _No matter._

People were continuing to fill the forbidding room, and Janice saw the emblems of all three branches entering in different numbers, and she became curious why they hadn't brought this case all the way to the capital. If it was such that this was a case of such severity, it wouldn't make sense why they would want to rush this. She didn't pretend to try and understand what was going through the minds of the higher ups, she hardly cared.

They would all come to the light of what had happened soon enough, it was all surely to be told during the course of the trial. But as the rest of those attending the event filed in, Janice couldn't help but feel a twinge of deep-seeded hatred towards Eren that had nothing to do with who he was, and everything to do with what he had hidden.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"You are Eren Yeager?"

The bindings were cold and firm on his wrists. His right foot had started to fall asleep already.

"Yes."

"Cadet of 104th trainee corps, graduated earlier this week?"

What seemed like thousands of pairs of eyes tore through him, reassembling him at their leisure. He was sure that plenty of them already knew of the verdict they wanted to place upon him.

"Yes."

"Participant in the evacuation efforts of Trost following the reappearance of the Colossal titan and the attack on the district?"

The room was tall and large, but he felt as though the very walls were pressing in, to confine and restrict him, to remove any chance of him feeling relief, and to ensure that he felt every pressure of the situation.

"Yes."

"And human in possession of what may very well be the most astonishing capability of any human to date?"

He wished he were at least allowed a chair; he hated the feeling of kneeling before dozens upon dozens of judgmental eyes, without any way of at least appearing as though he were innocent.

"Yes."

"Do you understand why you are being tried as a criminal?"

Is that what he was? A criminal? Someone who had been bestowed an impossible power, someone who had just used that power to grant humanity their first real chance at pushing back at the oppression that had afflicted them for so long?

"Yes."

Eren had no intention of being stupid though. While his veins sang of anger that he was being treated like this, he still believed that there was no way this tribunal would find him anything less than humanity's greatest weapon. His ears hardly registered the boring and necessary words Commander-In-Chief Darius Zackly spoke as he regarded Eren behind tired eyes. Zackly seemed to be the only one who didn't care much to be in the room, his expression almost bored as Eren looked past him and around at his surrounding observers.

He recognized groups of Survey Corpsmen, Garrison soldiers, and Military Police, as well as scores of other capital officials who must've been in the district or near enough to be summoned. People from the church as well as men who could have only been sent from the presses also stood present as guards seemed to dot every corner of the room, fingers white around their rifles. Eren almost wanted to shake his head at them; what would their guns do against him if he decided to become a titan and begin wreaking havoc? Were they so brash that they thought their guns would do anything less than irritate him if he transformed?

 _No, they wouldn't._

Eren caught himself and swallowed down a disgusted feeling. Had he really just been thinking of harming people who likely were nothing more than scared of the impossible human before them?

Ahead of him, Zackly had finished the opening proceedings, and was no longer looking at the papers that had been arranged under his nose. He had eyes now only for Eren and they narrowed ever so slightly as Eren returned his attention forward.

"I've never quite heard of anything like this, and I assume whatever transpires here today will be remembered for decades after we are gone. Nonetheless, after what I see before me, I will determine whether or not you are to be killed, or taken on as a weapon of humanity."

When phrased that way, Eren was almost outwardly annoyed Zackly didn't stand and throw his arms up declaring, "Well, of course it must be the latter!"

The hardened military man gestured almost flippantly to his right and Eren followed the gesture.

"Here we have witnesses who will help shape my decision, I'm sure you recognize a great many of them."

There were several soldiers Eren in fact was sure he had never seen before. A few he knew by looks and reputation: Captain Rico of the Garrison amongst them, as well as Captain Levi of the Scouts. To see a man who he had secretly idolized for years was an incredible feeling, even if Eren felt slightly underwhelmed at his size. He looked past the higher ranking on towards those who seemed to not be wearing identifying emblems.

Eren's gut did a flip as his eyes came to rest upon Mikasa and Armin who were staring at him with eyes wider than he had ever seen. Armin looked as though he may throw up, and Mikasa was breathing very heavily; Eren tried to relay some level of his relief that they were okay through his eyes, but he knew that speaking out to them would be frowned upon by the tribunal and he hoped his look sufficed. Past them remained several other faces that dared to raise Eren's spirits. He saw Bertholdt, Annie, Janice, Connie, Jean. Marco, a boy he remembered vaguely as Cedric, Ymir and Krista. He swallowed as he saw Sasha in a very battered looking state being supported by Reiner, though she smiled gently at him as he looked over her. He saw the imposing form of Keith Shadis next to them, and then his heart leapt as he saw the last person in the row.

 _Hannes?!_

But his eyes hadn't lied, and Eren half-expected him to smile broadly with those tipsy eyes and red cheeks, or even flash him a thumbs up, but for the first time he could remember, Hannes was looking at him as though he had never seen him before. Come to think of it, everyone, Armin and Mikasa included, seemed to be regarding him as though years of companionship had meant nothing. Sasha's eyes were frightened despite her smile, Krista determinedly looked away every time his gaze met hers, and even Reiner who he had never seen shy away from anything and who had always filled Eren with a sense of hope seemed to see Eren as something he rather wouldn't look at.

 _Do they really think I'm a completely different person, because of this ability?_

His gut had started to burn, the joy at seeing his friends alive and well had seemed to have faded away far too quickly. How could they look at him like this, after everything they had shared, everything they had gone through together? He saw Mikasa's eyes and the worry and disbelief in them and looked away, feeling betrayed and heated.

 _Fine. Fine._

The only person who seemed as though they had no problem was Janice. Her eyes were cold and relatively emotionless as they always had been, but Eren swore he could see something else there. It looked almost as though she was challenging him, as if there were a fiery dare lying behind her gaze. Eren had never known Janice that well, though they had conversed several times while jousting and during classes. She hadn't a problem talking with him, despite the fact that she seemed so thoroughly determined to shut herself away from the rest of her class. She never seemed angry, upset, tired, sad, or anything really, but Eren could now very see the burning test demur in her eyes.

 _Alright then. I'll show you. I'll show them all._

He straightened from the post he was kneeling ahead of, a feverish determinedness in his heart that had nothing to do with wanting to survive the trial. All he wanted just then was for all of them to understand that he was still Eren, whatever unimaginable abilities he may possess. They would know, they would understand. He would show them.

Zackly was still peering down at him with the same imperious look.

"It looks like you're just as eager as the rest of this lot. Very well. Let's have our first witness, shall we?"

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"… shall we do it now… ?"

"… no, we wait until attention is focused on someone or something other than him… "

"… if he misses… ?"

"… you know the plan, you will all charge then and do everything in your power to end his life… "


	17. Chapter 17

"… and to the best of your knowledge, Eren never displayed any signs that he possessed his titan-shifting ability?"

"No, sir."

"And he did not, to the best of your knowledge, ever display signs of discontent or hostility towards humanity as a whole, or perhaps to a specific facet of humanity?"

"No, sir, as I said, if there was anyone who seemed to want humanity to prevail, it would have been Eren."

Despite his feelings of resentment towards his fellow cadets, Eren couldn't smother a short wave of gratitude towards Sasha as she spoke from the witness stand. She was being questioned by Nile who looked disgruntled with this answer. He seemed to want to say more, but after regarding her for several seconds with a look of polite surprise, he turned and spoke confidently, voice booming through the large room.

"That is all from the Military Police, Commander."

Zackley gave a sniff as though he had been roused from a deep sleep and waved carelessly at the bench on the opposing side of the room.

"If the Scouts have any questions for the witness… "

Erwin, a dominant looking figure as he stood and stared forward impressively, addressed the older man.

"None, sir."

Amidst his anxiety and animosity, Eren had felt a wave of admiration as soon as Erwin had entered the room. He radiated command and pressure, and seemed to be on a different level of the rest of the soldiers in the room. He thought that for sure, if anyone was going to be a powerful asset to his defense, it would be this man. But as witnesses were called one at a time, not a single comment was made by those from the Scouts bench, other than the denial of having any questions. As his former trainees were called, Eren's admiration had melted into a sort of annoyed disbelief.

 _The MP's have Nile up here trying to skewer me in any way they can, and you're just sitting there?_

Reiner came next. The questions posed to him were similar in nature as they had been for Mikasa, Armin, Sasha, Ymir, Krista, Connie, Annie, and Bertholdt, as he tried very delicately to get them to admit that they had experienced doubts about Eren's loyalty or motive in joining the military, or get them to agree that he had indeed been hiding something. They had all given what Eren hoped were reasonable replies, and while they had all flat out disagreed that there had been any trace of hatred towards humanity in his behavior, they hadn't exactly seemed convinced that he had been hiding something. And as much as Eren hated to admit it, he couldn't blame them for that.

 _Even I didn't know what I had._

The only real break of tension had come in the form of Ymir, who seemed the most thoroughly intent on enjoying herself while she was being questioned.

"How long have you known Yeager?"

"Long as the rest."

"Did he ever exhibit behavior that seemed odd or questionable?"

"He one time tried to climb through a window in the girl's dorms with Springer, but I can't really blame him for that."

Eren and Connie had both grown very red, and Eren wished he could explain that they had been trying to fix a squeaky window with Connie and the shorter boy had accidentally dumped him through. Zackley had banged his gavel twice to restore order and an annoyed looking Nile had continued.

"You would say that he was mischievous in nature?"

"I mean, guy wanted to see some naked girls, you really gonna hold that against him?"

It was no surprise to anyone that Ymir was not questioned long as restrained laughter broke out again. The only one in the room who didn't seem to want to have even a brief moment of humor had been Mikasa, who stared daggers at whoever was on the stand as though daring them to try and say something incriminating.

Mikasa had spoken without a trace of stress or worry as Nile had grilled her mercilessly for minutes, trying to expose a nonexistent intimate relationship between her and Eren and trying to get her to admit to lying. It seemed that despite the short warning of the trial had not stopped the Military Police from expediting several possibly damning files of the trainees from the 104th. But Mikasa hadn't been the one Eren feared would cause problems.

"Jean Kirchstein."

With an unusually non-smug expression, Jean made his way to the witness stand; Nile leapt as soon as he was seated, and Eren's gut lurched.

 _If they knew I was close to Mikasa… do they know about how much Jean and I despised each other?_

Nile ran through the process that he had with everyone thus far, confirming their name, that they were indeed from the 104th and that they had in fact known Eren all throughout training. Jean confirmed each of these queries without so much as blinking as Eren did his best to catch the eye of the taller young man. He knew that after all the months of verbal harassment, butting heads, and physical altercations, this was Jean's perfect opportunity for revenge. Eren just didn't know if everything they had fought over was worth a testimony that could possibly mean his death.

At the forefront of it all, Nile was wearing a look of repressed smugness.

"It says here that there were multiple reports and write-ups of conflicts between you and Yeager, here."

Jean nodded.

"That is correct, there were."

"I don't have exact numbers, but would I be right in assuming there were dozens across the course of your training together?"

"I believe there would have been, yes."

Nile paused a moment, as though the fact that Eren and Jean had been in fights was enough evidence to put the former to death.

"During these fights or otherwise, did Yeager ever seem to reveal feelings of intense… anger, or combativeness?"

"Yes, as long as I have known him, he was always very quick to violence."

Nile paused again as a small murmuring ripple traveled through all those in attendance. Zackley reached for his gavel, but withdrew his hand as the noise died quickly on its own; to Eren's left, Mikasa had started to get to her feet, clearly ready to leap to his defense, but was quickly pulled back by Connie. Nile was now smiling openly.

"This violence… was it a sort of focused and intent violence, or was it more spur-of-the-moment and rage-induced?"

"I can't say that it was either per-say, but he always seemed to be holding onto his anger until he released it physically and became rather uncontrollable."

Jean seemed confused at the question, but his response had triggered another rippling wave of harsh whispers; Zackley rapped his gavel sharply this time.

"Quiet."

Nile smiled up and then looked back to Jean.

"And you would say Yeager was very apt to attack you, based on your own personal conduct and actions, regardless of how insignificant they were?"

Jean shifted in his seat.

"Well, yes, but… "

Nile spun a half-circle and let his voice carry loudly over what would have been the rest of Jean's answer.

"THAT will be all from the Military police, sir."

Jean looked disgruntled as Nile walked away and Zackley repeated the movement and words that he had multiple times by that point.

"Would the Scouts… ?"

He droned off as though assuming he would receive a similar answer as Erwin stood.

"None, sir."

Eren bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from making a face as Jean returned to his seat. Was the only reasonable defense he was going to get be his own testimony? Levi had seemed to think that the Scouts would be defending Eren as opposed to pushing for his execution; had the Captain lied? So far, Nile had done a tremendous job of using his fellow cadets to weave a picture that Eren was a violent, troubled and secretive boy, and Eren's confidence that he was going to come through this trial unscathed was beginning to slide.

"Janice Robin."

Eren watched as the short, black-haired girl made her way across the floor to the stand and sat down, looking as coldly indifferent as ever.

"You are Janice Robin of the 104th trainee corps?"

"Yes, sir."

"You knew Yeager during your period of training?"

"Yes, sir."

Nile began hitting her with the same questions he had the rest of the class and Eren began to tune the both of them out; he snapped back to attention as Nile asked a question that Eren had not yet heard.

"Do you believe that the power Yeager possesses is better to try and be utilized or used not at all?"

Eren jerked his head up, fully waiting for Janice's answer as was everyone else in the room; this was a question that had yet to have been posed.

 _Why would he only ask her?_

Rotating her shoulder slightly, Janice looked away.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

Nile didn't look discouraged; rather, he seemed thrilled at this response.

"If the choice came down to you, would you have Yeager killed?"

Erwin was on his feet.

"Commander, that is hardly an appropriate question."

Nile spoke almost immediately.

"I'll withdraw it."

But as he turned back, he pounced on Janice once more.

"You grew up with your father and mother, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"They died during the fall of Shiganshina, correct?"

For the first time since he had met her, Eren detected a hint of rage in Janice's eyes as she replied, barely moving her mouth.

"Yes, sir."

Nile smiled, clasping his hands behind his back and beginning to walk back and forth across the room.

"Now, you were alongside the squads that witnessed the movements of both Yeager and the unidentified titan."

"Yes, sir."

"Would you say they were both acting intelligently?"

She lifted her chin.

"They knew what they were doing."

Nile nodded.

"And your parents were killed when the Armored titan broke through the inner complex and showered the neighboring houses with debris, yes?"

Janice could have been a statue for as much as she was moving.

"That's correct."

"You saw firsthand the movements and actions of the Armored titan?"

"I did."

"Would you say it too was acting intelligently?"

"It was."

Walking back to the center of the room, Nile stared down at Eren, who stared back as Nile addressed Janice without looking at her.

"A titan with the kind of intelligence that can destroy a district… that's rather dangerous wouldn't you say?"

"I would."

"Would you also say then that it would be better to have such a titan eliminated so it could never pose such a threat?"

Erwin had got to his feet again, but Janice replied before he could say a word.

"I would."

Mikasa looked mutinous. Eren stared at Janice, hoping to catch her eye; he knew very well now where Nile was going and he could see how Janice would react to it. All the times they had spent training together, the missions they had shared, he could tell it all meant nothing next to her hatred of titans. He knew, because he would have felt the same way if positions were reversed.

Nile stared intently at Janice.

"Do you believe then that anyone who possesses such a power should be put down, as to avoid the possibility of that happening ever again?"

Erwin got back up.

"Commander, this is a clear attempt to… "

"Yes."

He cut off as everyone looked to Janice. Nile stared at her, mouth slightly ajar.

"What did you say?"

Janice glared at him then, eyes not attempting to hide the furious emotions she seemed to be feeling.

"They ought to be killed."

Then, that anger abated and she looked almost embarrassed. Nile took a breath as though he had just finished running around the entire wall.

"That is all from the Military Police."

Zackley repeated his usual question to Erwin who seemed to hesitate for the first time.

"No questions."

For the first time, Eren was glad he had said that. He wanted Janice down from that stand as quickly as possible; he watched her adamantly refuse to look at him as she walked back to her seat. Eren wanted desperately to be angry with her, but deep down, he knew that he would have said the same thing.

Janice had never gotten along with anyone, but Eren believed that, next to Cedric, he had gotten the closest to achieving a worthwhile relationship with her, and he knew that was for one reason only. He and Janice hated titans more than anything in the world, and that was the same reason Janice had just condemned him.

 _How could I… how could SHE say otherwise._

He looked up to see Hannes taking the stand, and felt a rush of anxiety that had very little to do with what his sentence would be. Though all evidence seemed to suggest that Hannes too would deliver a less than helpful testimony, Eren couldn't bring himself to believe that he was going to be betrayed by someone who had been like a second father to him for the majority of his childhood.

Nile ran the gambit yet again, confirming his name, making sure that he had in fact known Eren for a substantial period of time, though there was a slight alteration as he repeated his process.

"How long would you say you've known Yeager?"

"Since he was six, when I helped his mother get him out of a fight with some boys who he would go on to get in fights with up until the wall was attacked."

"Ah, fights you say?"

Eren grit his teeth: had to bring up fighting, again? Hannes's expression hadn't changed.

"Boys being boys."

Nile walked towards his table, speaking in a low voice as he did.

"And you mentioned mother… we have no record of a mother being… "

"You wouldn't, she was killed in the attack on Shiganshina."

Nile stopped walking, his mind clearly working very quickly all of the sudden.

"Ah. Alright."

Thrown momentarily off his game, Nile paused only briefly.

"And you know this… ?"

"I was there. The Yeager's house collapsed, trapping his mother; I found them trying to help her out about thirty minutes after the wall was breached… "

Nile was looking put off.

"Alright, that's quite… "

Hannes plowed on, his expression still unchanged.

"A titan arrived moments later. I wasn't able to kill it, and took both him and Mikasa… "

Nile was now looking alarmed.

"That will be… "

"… and we escaped while the titan took his mother, but not before he had seen her eaten."

Eren's stomach kicked angrily, but Hannes's words had an effect on the room, as once again, a wave of murmurs went up and Nile looked around, appearing rather helpless for the first time. He spun to face Zackley, who caught his intent and banged his gavel.

"Enough interruptions."

Quiet fell again, and Nile attempted jumping back to his line of questioning as quickly as he could.

"In all the years, you knew him, did Yeager ever exhibit behavior that you would assume… "

The questions and answers fell into a meaningless drone in Eren's ears as his eyes glazed. Hannes had managed to slip in a very dumbed down story about that day that Eren had lost almost everything he cared about, and while Eren was partially furious that this story had been suddenly made as public as it now was, it had seemed to have the first real positive effect on his defense. How could someone who had lost the most important person in his life in such a way be an ally of the very thing that had taken that from him?

"Very well. No more questions from the Military Police, Commander."

Zackley didn't even speak as he looked expectantly to Erwin, who rose.

"Just one question, sir."

Eren blinked in surprise, as Zackley leaned forward, clearly just as interested to hear what Erwin was going to say. Nile stood amongst the Military Police and stared at the Survey Corps commander, eyes narrowed. The tall blonde man didn't even bother to step out from behind his bench as he addressed Hannes.

"Do you believe that Eren will use his titan shifting ability to help or hinder humanity?"

Nile sprung forward, speaking in a very loud voice.

"Commander, that is irrelevant, there is no… "

But Hannes too had half-jumped to his feet as though he had been waiting his entire life to answer this question.

"If anyone was going to have a power like that, I would want it to be in the hands of Eren Yeager! No one would use it for more good for humanity than him!"

"Irrelevant, irrelevant, Commander, you can't… !"

Hannes and Nile were both shouting now and were somehow audible over each other as their voices echoed loudly around the room.

"YOU LET HIM LOOSE, HE'S THE BEST CHANCE WE'VE GOT!"

"COMMANDER, COMMANDER, I DEMAND YOU… "

As Nile bawled up at him, Zackley seemed to finally understand the lack of professionalism that was taking place beneath his nose.

"QUIET!"

At the shout of their superior, both Nile and Hannes quieted themselves, though the remaining echoes of their yelling reverberated for several seconds. Zackley peered down at the both of them.

"Commander Nile, you will refrain from shouting at me like that, or anyone else in this room. I expect a higher level of composure from you."

"Yes, but… "

"The witness was out of line, but that does not give you the right to begin shouting just as loudly as he."

Nile lowered his head, appearing subdued, but Eren saw the fury etched across his features as he seethed towards the ground. Zackley turned to Hannes.

"Exit the witness stand if you would."

It appeared that Hannes had well more to say, but he seemed to recognize that this dismissal was getting off easy. Standing, he turned and walked back towards his bench, and Eren could have sworn he saw the older man flash him a thumbs up as he went. Erwin had sat down at some point while the shouting had taken place, his gaze forward and stalwart as though he had never moved at all. Zackley looked down at some documents ahead of him.

"Just a couple left here… Captain Levi."

The shorter man stood slowly before walking at a very leisurely pace to the stand; as he sat, Eren realized that this was the first time Nile looked concerned standing before a witness. Levi stared back at him, unblinking and looking far more in control of the situation.

"Um… you are Captain Levi of the Scouts?"

"Yes."

"You were on an expedition until you were recalled to assist in the counterattack against the titans at the behest of Commander Pixis?"

"Yes."

"And you were present for the arrival and actions of Yeager in his titan form?"

"Yes, alongside many others."

Nile nodded and then paced a moment before continuing.

"Could you please explain what you witnessed of Yeager while he was a titan?"

"Two strikes of lightning, resembling the one claimed to have been seen by survivors of the Shiganshina district, impacted near the largest church in the district. Accompanied by a small group of soldiers, we went to investigate both. At both points of impact, only craters existed, and blown out buildings that were near enough to the epicenter."

Eren found himself wondering as the captain spoke if Levi would be the only one who was going to be questioned solely because of his witnessing of the Eren as a titan.

"Eren alongside the unidentified titan made their way to the boulder while myself and my team investigated what was their points of origin. By the time we had made it to them, they were pushing the boulder to seal the breach. Several dozen before that task was finished, the other titan ran deeper into the district and has yet to be located, though it is safe to say that whoever was inside it has returned to hiding and will likely not be found by any deduction at present."

Nile took a step towards Levi.

"It was clear then, that Yeager's goal had been to seal the breach."

"Yes. He showed no open hostility as a titan towards any of the soldiers who surrounded him and grew consecutively closer as the mission continued. He would roar occasionally, I would assume due to the effort, then, after the breach was sealed, he collapsed and emerged from the nape of the titan, unconscious."

"Emerged."

"Steam started to pour from the body of the titan itself, and he appeared in from its neck, yes."

"And while he was active, he did seem to be in control of his actions?"

"As far as I could tell. I would assume that he was likely relatively confused."

"Why is that?"

"He was unsure of how he had become a titan, nor how he was able to revert between."

"And he told you this."

"He did, just as he told you."

"By what you saw, and by what you heard him say, do you believe what he said?"

"I neither believe nor disbelieve him, I do not know enough at this point to place judgement."

Nile seemed to sense an opportunity.

"You understand that the Survey Corps has come to this trial today to defend this cadet?"

"I do."

"Yet you are unwilling to trust him?"

Levi narrowed his eyes by a fraction.

"I'll damn anyone in this room as a fool if they trust what Eren Yeager has said at face value. It is impossible to know whether or not his intentions are for or against humanity; he has displayed at least one act of good will towards humanity, but as that could very well be a ploy, I cannot assume anything right now."

"And yet you're fighting for his defense. Why is that if you don't trust him?"

"Because if he tries anything if we let him live, I'll be the one to put him down."

This caught Nile off guard and Eren saw Mikasa get to her feet out of the corner of his eye. She was shouting before Connie could pull her down.

"He saved the district, what more do you need?!"

Nile pointed sharply at her, clearly about to raise an objection as mumblings began to slowly rise around the room, but Zackley beat him to it with a rap of his gavel.

"Cadet Ackerman, take your seat."

She did reluctantly, still glaring at Levi as she moved. And as Nile made to turn from her back to Levi, several things happened at once.

Firstly, Levi was no longer sitting in the witness stand. Secondly, there was a scuffle and several shouts that were taken up and carried until the whole room burned with frantic yelling in the matter of a pair of seconds. Thirdly, as Eren tried to twist his head to catch the commotion, there was a very loud bang and something slammed into his cheekbone. Gasping in pain, he turned towards the ground as footfalls sounded around him. His eyes watered in pain; he wouldn't have been able to see what was happening, even if he had been able to turn around, but there were the clear sounds of a fight behind him. After only about ten seconds, the sounds became limited to people panicking before a heavy thud sounded just next to him and he jumped. There was a scream of pain and a shadow passed before his eyes, and through a blur, he looked up.

A man was staring down at him, a gun obvious in his hands, the barrel between Eren's eyes.

"Sorry, freak."

He couldn't even muster a word as he closed his eyes again and listened to the deafening sound of a last gunshot, as it echoed mercilessly through the chaos that had become the courtroom.


	18. Chapter 18

Eren awoke very suddenly, back in the room he had remembered being held in prior to his trial. His heart was beating very quickly for a reason he didn't know; he seemed to recall having had a particularly awful dream, but the memory of it was no more than that. Despite his quick awakening, he remained bleary and one of his eyes remained closed. It was then that he realized he couldn't open it.

"Ah, he's awake, he's awake!"

As Eren tried to wrap his head around what had happened to him and why he was currently missing half his vision, something landed on the bed next to him and a hand wrapped under his chin and forced his head back.

"Tell me Eren, do you feel poorly? How aware do you feel? Does your head hurt? Can you… "

"Hange, let the kid breathe."

His head was released and words stopped assaulting him as Levi's voice slid over the woman's frantic questioning. He focused his open right eye to take in the sight of the room being more full than he had seen it since he had been staying in it. Commander Erwin and Captain Levi stood against the far wall, about as still as statues and without an ounce of emotion on either of their faces. The woman identified as Hange sat at the foot of his bed, looking apprehensive and excited; she clearly was restraining herself only barely. Two soldiers Eren didn't recognize stood by the door, looking to be keeping watch.

"What happened?"

The question escaped his mouth before he could hold it in and he hated how childish it sounded. Levi rotated his shoulder lightly, and Eren realized his clothes looked mildly scuffed.

"Couple of the religious wack-jobs made a go for you towards the end of the trial. I was able to subdue most of them, but one managed to shoot you in the face before anyone could get to him."

"Shoot me in the… ?"

As the reason for his inactive eye became almost abundantly clear, Eren felt himself growing nauseous.

"Five of them in total, all in custody now, most with some level of broken bones. My money would be that Nick sent them your way, but he haven't been able to prove it yet, your would-be assassins aren't talking. They cleared the courtroom after the attack, it was relative pandemonium. Took three soldiers to keep your friend from getting to you."

Eren had a vivid vision of Mikasa rushing for what surely appeared to be his lifeless body while Armin tried hopelessly to calm her.

"How long have I been… "

He realized he didn't know what word he had been about to say. Unconscious? Asleep? Dead?

"Only about two hours. Just about everyone believed that you were dead as a doornail, at least until we tried moving your body."

Eren realized that he was now able to open his eye the barest fraction, just as he became aware of an odd hissing noise.

"You started steaming from your face just the same way a titan would if it was regenerating. You still don't look great, but it's a damn sight better then what we had to look at after the fact."

"The trial, the decision, what… ?"

There were so many questions still swirling in Eren's head, it was all he could do to fire them off one at a time and hope for a satisfactory answer.

"Zackley has denied the option to reconvene. The last two names on the witness list were duplicates, some secretarial error. We'll be hearing a decision any time now."

This was enough to propel Eren to a full sitting position as he began shouting; the guards turned swiftly raising their guns with obvious fear on their face, but Erwin waved them down.

"I don't even get to speak for myself?! What the fuck is that about?! The fate of my life is being decided right now, and I don't even get a chance to properly defend myself?!"

Erwin was watching him carefully.

"You don't trust the testimonies of your fellow cadets to do a proper job for your case?"

"No, of course not! You saw Jean, you saw Janice, neither of them think I'm worth a damn anyway, why would that… "

"And that of Hannes?"

Eren stopped shouting as he thought back to the inflamed words of the man who had looked after him for years.

"I… "

He had nothing to say to that however; nothing Eren could have said or answered to in his own defense would have been as convincing as the words of someone else who had placed their complete faith in him. Levi nodded as though he could hear Eren's thoughts.

"I personally think that it's for the better you didn't speak on your own behalf. Nile was able to rile up plenty of people, like Robin, and he would have likely had tremendous success with you. It would undoubtedly have done more harm than good."

His words were brash, but Eren had hardly heard him; his mind had already drifted elsewhere. He looked up to Erwin who looked back at him with that eternally steeled gaze.

"Why didn't you ask anything?"

He seemed to have been expecting the question.

"Of the witnesses?"

"Yes."

It was hard not to put the feeling of betrayal he felt in his voice, but he didn't really care.

"You asked maybe a half dozen questions total while Nile asked more than I could ever count. I thought you were supposed to be my defense."

The note of accusation was clear and ringing, and Eren had no problem letting it hang in the air; he could have said more, but it would have been repetitious at that point. Erwin didn't seem the slightest bit offended.

"I could have asked a great many questions, that is correct. But no matter how many times I could have refuted Nile's attacks, it would inevitably done nothing by way of helping you. Zackley had his mind made up the moment you entered the courtroom."

The feeling of anger towards the commander of the Survey Corps evaporated and was replaced by just as awful a feeling. Worse.

"I don't know what his decision was, but I knew that it was all I could do to respect the fact that he had already come to a conclusion. If Nile infuriated him enough, that may help change his mind if he had decided against letting you live. It would not be beyond Zackley to alter his decision based on which side annoyed him more."

Eren didn't know whether to give a panicked laugh or not; was his fate really being decided by a man who would allow such pettiness to influence his choice?

"I asked a question if I thought it was truly necessary, but I mostly sat back and let Nile damage his own standing with the Commander-in-Chief."

Eren thought to the few times Nile had snapped at, or shouted at Zackley, and the annoyance the older man had seemed to radiate as a result.

"But in the end, his mind was made up already. We can only wait now and see what that decision was. Or has become."

With that, the room turned to a tense silence as Eren's heart pounded against his chest. He didn't feel remotely as confident as he had at the beginning of the day; even the fact that someone had attempted to murder him not three hours ago seemed to matter in the slightest. He could very well be about to be sentenced to death, and there was no longer a fucking thing he could do about it. Perhaps Levi was right, but he couldn't stand thinking that he hadn't had a chance to tell his side of the story. Even if he had gotten heated, how could claiming his innocence and hatred for titan-kind done him any kind of wrong?

Levi glanced towards the door and then back to Eren.

"Couple of your pals wanted to see you now that the trial is essentially over. Technically, it's not allowed, but I don't think anyone cares at this point."

When Eren became aware that Levi was asking if he wanted to see whoever was waiting to check on him, he could do no more than shrug. In that moment, he didn't care who was waiting to see him. Levi jerked his head towards Hange, who gave the side of Eren's face a strangely longing look before rising. Alongside the commander, the two of them exited the room silently, taking the guards with them and for a moment, Eren was alone in terrifying quiet.

Then, there was the pattering of feet and arms wrapped around his head before he could even turn and register where the noise was coming from.

"Oh, Eren, they can't sentence you that way, they can't!"

Armin's frantic voice brought an almost involuntary smile to Eren's mouth; typical Armin, concerned as always. He looked over his friends' shoulder and smiled at Mikasa who stood behind the shorter blonde, eyes wide as though she couldn't believe what she was seeing. He realized this was the first time he had seen any of them since he had been swallowed saving Armin; he couldn't imagine what was going through their heads.

"I saw… I saw you DIE… "

Armin's voice was hardly above a whisper as Eren watched the rest of the 104th who had testified filed into the room warily. Reiner gave him a soft smile.

"Hell of a situation you've gotten yourself into, Eren."

Eren snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Don't I know it."

"Eren… "

Marco's voice was shaky and sounded almost as though he didn't want to be speaking at all.

"Did you… really not know?"

Knowing that regardless of how he answered, it likely wouldn't matter, Eren shook his head.

"I didn't. Not until it happened, I hadn't any idea how I did it, and I don't know why in the world I would be someone who possesses an ability like that."

He was surprised as Marco heaved out an enormous sigh of relief, as though all he had been waiting for was this, as a smile broke out on his face, large and genuine.

"Thank goodness for that."

While Eren couldn't have expressed in that moment how much it meant to him that Marco had taken his word for it without hesitation, he noticed that Marco was the only one who seemed to have reacted as such. The rest of the young soldiers he had trained for years with stood around the room, all looking some measure of uncomfortable or hesitant. But after several seconds of silence, Ymir leaned forward conspiratorially.

"Just for future reference, would recommend getting shot in the face AFTER they decide to string you up."

Eren stared blankly at her while Krista swatted her on the arm before leaning out of Armins' grasp and starting to laugh. It came on quite suddenly, but it felt better than anything he had felt for the longest time. He was aware that he was the only one in the room laughing and that caused him to laugh even harder; by the time he was finished, tears streamed from his eyes, and his stomach ached. Several deep breaths later and he looked up, nodding at Ymir.

"Thanks for that."

She looked mildly surprised at his reaction, but nodded back.

"Awfully giddy for someone who may be very near to being sentenced to death."

This came not from Ymir, but from Janice, who had just entered the room. A whole new air of tension seemed to settle on the room as Eren stared back at her, waiting for the anger to come. But as he stared at her expressionless face, he couldn't even muster up animosity towards her if he tried; she had spoken her mind and told the truth, and Eren was not able to blame her for that. Not everyone in the room seemed to share his sentiment however.

"You should leave."

In a singularly rare moment, Mikasa's voice quivered as she spoke. Her gaze had finally shifted away from Eren and she was now staring down the girl who had entered the room; seeming to immediately sense the heat that was blistering, Reiner took a careful step to his left, in case he needed to intervene. Janice did not return the fire in Mikasa's eyes and simply crossed her arms.

"I have as much a right to be here as anybody."

Mikasa took another step.

"You knew that Nile had no business asking you questions staked in your personal views, and you knew Zackley was going to sustain when Erwin called him out on it. But you answered anyway."

Janice shrugged.

"I didn't know what was going to happen. I just answered his question."

Mikasa spoke through clenched teeth.

"You hung Eren out to dry."

"If speaking honestly and truthfully is the same thing, then yes, that's what I did."

Eren could tell then that if someone didn't intervene in some way, there was going to be hell to pay, as Mikasa looked ready to start swinging; he fired out the first thing that came to mind.

"I didn't know you lived near where the Armored titan breached in the inner wall."

As he had hoped, Mikasa was jolted from what surely was a very violent and very short fuse to look at him; Janice too met his eyes, but her expression had darkened by a noticeable fraction.

"You didn't ask."

And in that moment, Eren truly felt as though he were sitting amongst a crowd of strangers. Janice stared at him, clearly having had no desire to have had her past brought up once more, but as Eren looked around at the people he had trained with, shared meals, stories and laughs with, not one of them was looking at him in a way that he could remember having seen before. Despite his relieved words earlier, Marco was looking pale and worried and even Mikasa, despite her words, looked at him with concern; not a concern that he knew from years past, when she had found him in a state where he required help or consoling, rather, it looked to be concern that she was even standing near him. He turned to Armin in a last attempt to see someone who didn't look frightened to be in the same room as him and was met with a look that was determinedly steadfast.

"They won't kill you Eren. I know they won't."

It was painfully obvious that he was trying to convince himself just as much anyone else who had heard him. Eren looked down at his sheets, suddenly of a mind that wished he were anywhere but in a room full of people who had once been his friends, but now seemed to view him as nothing more than a threat. He was almost relieved when Levi stepped back into the room, though that feeling sank away when the shorter man spoke.

"Decision's in, kid, guess they didn't buy it. They'll be executing you at dawn tomorrow."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"This wasn't supposed to happen, why would the tribunal elect to put down someone who so clearly has a tremendous ability they could exploit?"

"Maybe that's why they decided to kill him."

"What are you talking about?"

"Look at it from their perspective. For the first time in centuries, their way of life has been threatened ever since what happened a few years back. Someone comes along with the sort of power to threaten an already extremely fragile system, of course they'd want it gone."

"But the Scouts… "

"The Scouts ultimately don't have a say that can sway a decision like that. They could say that they'd keep Eren far from the walls if granted custody of him, they could say that Levi would be watching him at all hours of the day, but it wouldn't stop a decision like that from going through. Far too big of a risk."

…

…

"Well, how do we proceed?"

"You're asking me?"

"You're in charge."

…

"I was of the mind we would have to break him out, in the hours before they take him out to be executed."

"Why not sooner, wouldn't under the cover of night be… "

"More expected. I eavesdropped on some guards who were watching the floor where he's being kept. Apparently, there's rumors going around that some religious nuts have half a mind to bust in late tonight and break him out."

"Exactly."

"After the stunt they pulled today in court, they really are going to risk SAVING him now?"

"Don't confuse yourself and forget that there are a good dead more than just one group of fanatical zealots on this island. You know as well as I that there are just as many of those out there who would rather we worship titans rather than go to war with them."

"Aren't we worried they'll run off with him before we get a chance to?"

"That would be just as much to our advantage. We won't have to break over, and Eren stays alive. We dip out of the corps and hunt him down, and take him then, no one being the wiser."

…

…

"Okay. Okay. We're sending in Annie, I assume?"

"Funny, Bert, you're normally so opposed to any plan that involves throwing her up first."

"Whatever, it's what we're doing right?"

"We don't have a choice. I'm the only one whose titan form won't throw Eren for a loop immediately. We don't know if he's telling the truth about not knowing how to trigger his ability, but we do know that if he gets a glimpse of Reiner in his armor, he won't come willingly."

"You have a plan then?"

"Not really. Once you guys get me in, I'll talk to him, he was always willing to talk to me. I'll feed him whatever he needs to hear to up and leave with me."

"Do you plan on shifting, or… "

"If I can just get him out without, I would prefer that. Otherwise, I shift and grab him, worst may come."

"We'll be on standby in case things go south, but hopefully, that won't be an issue. We go in two hours before dawn."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

In the rare occurrences over the course of her training as a member of the 104th where Janice had become troubled, walking had always been the best way to steel herself. That evening however, her legs were not subservient to her wishes, and she found herself on the roof of one of the hollowed out buildings that had become shelters for the needs of the military. The moon was gliding slowly to its perch far above the district, and Janice watched it while blatantly ignoring the emotions she hadn't felt in the longest time. She was lying in wait, the same way she knew the person she was waiting on believed that it was other way around. It was all she could do to sit still and wait for her trap to be sprung, and try and keep herself from thinking about all that was plaguing her.

 _I killed him._

That wasn't true. There was far more at work during that tribunal then the testimony of one solitary cadet.

 _I didn't help anything._

So what? What did she owe Eren? Besides, wouldn't it be better if someone that dangerous wasn't allowed to wander among humanity as though an ally?

 _What does it matter._

She blew out a breath and leaned against the rail along the roof. It was time to stop worrying about what she couldn't change, things in her past couldn't matter anymore than she could alter their outcomes. She had been fighting that battle for the entire ride up to enlisting in the trainee corps, and had believed it won, but here she was, pondering the past and not the future.

"Robin."

She knew she had been coming, it was impossible to think that anyone so pathetically obsessive wouldn't confront her about what had happened, especially after she had made it very clear she held Janice at fault. It seemed almost unfair to have been lying in wait like this.

"Ackerman."

It was probably foolish not to turn and face her; after all, with how furious Mikasa likely already was at her, acting as though she wasn't paying attention could only enflame the situation. But, while she tried, there was something terribly captivating about the moon.

"Will you be present at the execution?"

Of all the questions she could have been asked, Janice was surprised to hear this one.

"I don't know. There really isn't any reason for me to be there."

"No, I suppose there isn't."

Janice had been ready for Mikasa to fly at her with a flurry of harsh words, raised tones, even fists, but there was something very odd about how she was behaving.

"You're awfully calm for someone whose boyfriend is about to be put down."

"He's not my boyfriend."

A moot point perhaps, but that wasn't what caught Janice's attention.

"Ackerman, I can tell you have absolutely no intention of letting Eren get murdered tomorrow morning."

"No, I don't."

"Do you have a plan?"

"I do."

Janice let out a laugh that sounded strangely hollow despite the vastness of the night sky that surrounded them.

"You do realize that there will be plenty of protection for Eren until dawn?"

"Yes."

"And that any attempt to break him out for whatever reason will likely be viewed as treason?"

"Yes."

"And that the MP's likely won't care if they get to execute two people tomorrow instead of one?"

"I'm aware."

"And yet despite all that, you have every intention of trying something stupid?"

"If you want to phrase it like that."

Shrugging and continuing to stare up at the moon, Janice blinked.

"If that's what you want to do, Ackerman, that's your prerogative. Why come to me though?"

There was a pause and Janice wondered if Mikasa was trying to come up with a lie, or was simply trying to decide whether or not to tell the truth.

"I'm not sure. I had half a mind to kill you."

She sounded almost curious, as though what she was saying was as equally new information to her as it was to Janice.

"And are you going to?"

Another long pause, and when Mikasa spoke again, Janice could tell she had turned away.

"No."

Janice made no reply and seconds later, footsteps could be heard returning to the stairs. Not a half dozen paces down however, and the very audible sounds of a scuffle broke out; it lasted only a few seconds, and the sound of someone being unwillingly dragged away prefaced steps coming back up the stairs. As the sound of Mikasa being hauled away faded, Janice finally got up the will to look away from the moon.

"Curious how you managed to know that she would be willing to say all that."

Rico was looking at Janice intuitively, but the latter had nothing to say in reply to that.

"Where are you going to take her?"

"We'll hold her in a cell nearby where the execution is planned. If she calms down enough, we can escort her and let her see it, if she wants."

Janice nodded, eyes towards the ground; her reply was barely above a whisper.

"Thanks."

She turned back towards the moon, hoping Rico would leave, but she didn't.

"Why did you come to me?"

Janice had been asking herself that question since she had approached Rico hours before, and still had no solid answer.

"I don't know. I knew she would try something, and I thought about just trying to stop her myself, before thinking that there was probably some law or policy that allows that jailing of someone who has displayed obvious malicious or treasonous intent."

"You were right."

"Of everyone who outranked me in the operation, you were the only one who seemed like they would be someone I could trust, at least with something like this."

"I appreciate you saying that. You very well may have saved Ackerman's life."

"That was the idea."

Silence returned briefly before Rico started to head back down the stairs.

"I'd watch yourself when she's turned loose though. If you thought you had an enemy now… "

"I know."

And Rico left, leaving Janice on the roof feeling emptier than she had minutes ago.

"I know."


	19. Chapter 19

While he had given a long loud laugh when Levi had advised him to get some rest, Eren couldn't even muster the slightest smile as the hours of the night seemed to pass both painfully slow and frantically quick. He wished he had access to a window of some kind, even though he was fairly sure he was underground; he couldn't decide if it would be more or less calming to watch the moon pass above.

 _I shouldn't be here._

He wished he knew how to alter his form. He had replayed what he could remember from the day of the attack and subsequent counterattack, but he couldn't wrap his head around what he had done to become a titan. He tried to think if there was a keyword he had spoken, or motion he had made, but as these options passed through his head, the more absurd the ideas became. Besides, had he really the right to impose his will over the tribunal, who had made the decision? Was his desire to live really more legitimate than a decision they had made with likely the whole of humanity in mind? Was he really too dangerous to be allowed to roam within the walls?

 _I am dangerous, of course I am. But not to humanity._

But of course, this wasn't something anyone other than he could know. He remembered the looks given to him by all the people he had once been on the best of terms with, who now viewed him as some kind of freak whom they could no longer trust. And by consequence, he too could no longer trust any of them. He was alone.

 _I saved this entire district. I saved everything and everyone within this wall. And they're going to kill me for it._

The emptiness, his feelings of betrayal and ultimate fear of death were slowly swallowed by a growing rage that pounded against his eardrums. He felt a sort of savage pleasure at the thought of transforming and walking out of what was essentially his prison as those guarding were helpless to stop him. It would be all he could do at that point to return to his hometown and seal up that breach too; maybe then they would stop being so damn thick-headed and realize he was as advantageous to humanity as anything that had ever been offered them. And besides…

 _The basement._

He still had they key his father had given him, and had not spoken of it to anyone else. Surely by now, Mikasa would have forgotten that it had even been given to him all those years ago, and she was the only person alive who knew of it. Perhaps it wasn't important, perhaps it was nothing more than a fun science experiment that Eren was vastly overthinking the importance of, but he didn't care. He wanted to know what his father had so tantalizingly dangled in front of his face when he was a child, and that had never left his mind years later.

 _But first I need to get out of here._

Of the little he had been told, he didn't know how he was to be killed. A tentative plan had long since started forming in his head that he would transform in an instant as soon as he was in a place where he could see light flowing, but while he knew he had to try something, he knew that was just as impossible a chance as anything. He would be struck down the minute he started running for freedom, titan or otherwise, Levi would surely be in the near vicinity, ready to pursue if that was what it came to.

"And it doesn't help that I DON'T EVEN FUCKING KNOW HOW I CAN… "

His voice broke out in rage and it surprised him to hear after all the silence that had existed for so long in the dark of his room; his ranting would have surely continued on regardless except in the brief pause he took, an unfamiliar sound echoed from outside his door. There were hurried and raised voices that went back and forth for several seconds before footsteps pounded away from Eren's door and he was left once more in total silence. He wondered if they had heard him shouting and believed that they were about to need reinforcements if Eren decided to transform; if that was the case, they and whoever they returned with would surely be disappointed. Then, there was a good deal of fiddling with the lock on his door and with a sharp creak, it was forced open.

"Are you restrained?"

The voice that spoke was low and female and Eren couldn't think of doing anything other than reply honestly as he tried to wrap his head around what was happening.

"My ankles. They're chained to the bed."

A small figure worked their way to the foot of his bed and began to immediately begin battling the chains that were holding Eren from leaving the bed. She spoke no other words and Eren tried to get his eyes to focus through the darkness to make out his sudden ally.

"What are you doing?"

Stupid question, but one that he felt was very necessary to ask; his heart was thumping very quickly at the idea that he was being liberated, but he had heard plenty of what Levi had mentioned about groups that may want to spirit him away, use him, experiment on him, or execute him themselves.

"I'm getting you out of here."

One link popped free from his left leg and she moved to his right.

"Would have gotten here earlier, but I had to make sure Ackerman was somewhere where she wouldn't be able to do anything stupid like this."

Eren immediately knew then who was talking by the dryness and indifference of the tone speaking.

"What do you mean?"

Janice swore in a whisper as the metal slid against metal loudly.

"I managed to trick her into admitting she was going to make an attempt to break you out so they drug her off and locked her up somewhere downstairs. Would keep her from doing anything considered treasonous and would take any suspicion away from me to do the same."

Eren's mind was working very quickly still, but now for much different reasons.

"Why would they hold suspicion towards either of you?"

A short exhale in the darkness by his feet acted as a clear indication of the exasperation she felt towards his words.

"They're watching everyone. Everyone who knew you, everyone who didn't, and everyone they think they might have a motive to break in here and capture or kill you for whatever reason."

With a gut-wrenching snap, the second bond broke; in the dark, Eren could see Janice's form straighten.

"Let's go. I don't know how long the guards will fall for that distraction."

Not feeling a single reason to question anything more then he already had. Hopping out of bed and feeling a chill at the cold stone beneath his bare feet, he hunched slightly and followed her quietly and quickly from the room.

The hallway was lit only by the occasional lantern and was surprisingly empty. Eren was able to pick up on the lack of windows or wooden surfaces that his dwelling had been indeed underground, surely to prevent his transformation from allowing him to escape. After several long hallways and turns, Eren felt his gut leap as what could only have been moonlight could be seen streaming through the bars of a door at the top of a staircase. Invlunatarily, he moved towards it before Janice seized his wrist and pulled him back towards another dim hallway.

"Not that way, guard and soldiers aplenty. There's a window this way we can slip you out of."

She continued speaking in a very low voice as she pulled him further into the building.

"When you're out the window, head for the wall. Get as far as you can; don't transform until you reach the wall or unless you have to, you'll need to be a titan to scale the wall anyway. From there… "

"I can't transform."

It wasn't the truth, but it wasn't much of a lie either. Janice stopped so suddenly that Eren collided with her back as she spun to face him, emotionless voice taking on a distantly menacing tone.

"What do you mean, you can't?"

"I mean, I don't know how."

She stared at him only a moment longer before grabbing him by the collar, slinging open a closet door and forcing him inside. Stepping in after him, she closed the door, and Eren found her very close to him in complete blackness. Her voice was a dangerous hiss.

"Don't try and waste time playing some level of innocent card on me, you're not on trial anymore, and if I had come to kill you, I already would have."

"Janice… "

Not knowing how else to convey the seriousness of what he was saying, and the truth of it, Eren took her shoulders; she recoiled slightly at his touch, but didn't pull back. Eren wasn't sure she had the room.

"I genuinely don't know how to turn into my titan form. I don't know how I did the first time, and I don't know how it happened a second time. If I had been given a chance to testify at my own goddamn trial, I would have been able to tell everyone that."

He wondered what kind of face she was making in the dark, though he imagined it couldn't be much different from the indifferent expression she always had; her voice dripped with suspicion and sarcasm as she replied.

"You just happened to be able to transform twice, first to save your own skin and second to mount the greatest push against the titans that humanity has ever seen?"

Hearing this spoken made it colossally worse in Eren's head and he tried to keep his emotions under control as he spoke back to her desperately.

"You don't think I wish I knew?! I'm sure there was a trigger, that there is something that allows me to do what I do, but I haven't a fucking clue what… "

A hand slapped over his mouth as his voice rose and in the sudden quiet, he could hear his heart pounding in his ears. Would no one even try to understand the confusion and desperation he was feeling?

"Keep your voice down."

He took her wrist and pulled it down, not yet willing to concede the argument.

"What am I supposed to do? What can I do? I'm not ready to die, but I don't know how I can do anything to change what's happening, I'm not in control of anything anymore… "

"Alright, alright, shut up."

She blew a sigh out of her mouth and Eren could tell she was thinking hard.

"The first time you changed."

He waited for her to continue before realizing it had been just as much a question as a statement.

"I had been swallowed mostly whole by a titan."

"Okay. And the second time… "

Eren stopped to consider. He honestly hadn't made much of an attempt to think about that particular event. He had been hiding out inside an essentially scuttled building before coming face to face with a group of looters. They had come at him with violent intent and… that had been all he remembered.

"Eren?"

Was it a mental command? In both of those instances he had surely been under a great deal of mental duress by way of anger. Perhaps his ability to change only came to power when he was pushed to his absolute limit in terms of emotion… or perhaps it was when he was at his physical limit? He had been terribly injured when he had been swallowed and changed the first time, missing his arm and leg may certainly have acted as a trigger and he had been shot by the looters during the brief fight they had…

"Eren!"

Blinking rapidly, he looked down to where he knew Janice to be.

"Sorry."

"It doesn't matter if you don't know how to change, but it means you'll have to essentially sneak your way to the wall where you'll have to get through somehow."

Her voice had suddenly become very hurried and automatic, and Eren could tell she was likely having second thoughts about what she was doing. It was then that something occurred to him that he realized didn't make much sense. The door to the closet began to swing open, letting the orange light of the lanterns leak in before Eren reached out and closed it; he spoke before she could ask him what he was doing.

"Why are you helping me?"

He could see her brow furrow in his head.

"What are you talking about?"

"You were by far the most damning testimony anyone I had been with as a cadet could have given. And now you're telling me that you're risking your own career and life to try and bust me out of here, when it was obvious you want nothing more than to see me dead."

"I already told you, if I wanted to kill you, I would have already."

"Why don't you?"

"Why don't I what?"

"Want to kill me. I heard what Nile said when he talked about you and where you lived when the attack happened. If anyone should want to kill someone who can turn into a sentient titan who has the ability to… "

"Stop."

He did so, knowing he had pushed far enough; if she hadn't told him by then, he wasn't going to get a response anytime soon. If she had some reason she was keeping private, he had no business trying to push her more than he already had. He was risking his rescue as it was.

"Follow me."

She exited the closet then and Eren followed silently. Two more hallways and he could see stairs ascending which they took two at a time; Janice looked out through the bars of the door at the top before pushing it open and grabbing Eren once more by the collar, roughly pulling him along.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"I can't see a damn thing."

"It doesn't matter, stop worrying about stupid shit."

"Oh, you'd rather I worry about the fact that we're about to commit treason of the highest order in trying to break out possibly the most dangerous human ever to be seen by… "

"Both of you be quiet."

"Yeah Jean, we already said you don't need to come if you think this is too risky. We're all likely about to sacrifice a lot for what we think is right and if you have any second thoughts, you should probably leave."

There was a silence in which Armin could practically hear Jean swelling like a bullfrog.

"I'm fully aware of the risk! I'm ready to give up a place on the MP's for this, for God's sake!"

"Then pipe down. As soon as we bust out Mikasa, we beeline for Eren's room and we're running."

Armin was glad for Marco's words for, after several seconds, it appeared they had done enough to close Jean's mouth. He was still in shock that he had elected to come along and risk so much over someone he had expressed so much disdain towards for so long. Armin had asked Connie to keep an eye on him in confidence; he hated the thought that Jean would sell them out, but he couldn't take that risk. He and Marco had stumbled into Armin and Connie planning, but instead of chewing them out or reporting them, they had elected to come along. It was slightly unnerving, but Armin wasn't in the mindset to question a good thing in that moment.

He had a best friend to rescue.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

They had made it outside, the moon beaming down on them and orange lights placed all across the roofs of the neighboring buildings. Eren had just enough time to make out the silhouettes of soldiers pacing along before Janice yanked him down to his stomach alongside her. The roof they were atop had no cover whatsoever and they both lay still as she flicked her gaze around them, until all the soldiers had seemed to turn their backs respectively. She grabbed him by the collar then and moved him quickly towards the edge of the roof facing the wall.

"This is the only shot you'll have. You screw this up and they'll probably just kill you on the spot, no point in bothering with a ceremony if they think you're too dangerous to risk it."

As he peered over the edge of the roof several stories down to the darkness of the street below, Eren realized that perhaps he still hadn't got his point across.

"Janice, I already told you I can't… I don't know how… "

"I know."

He looked to her and for the first time, he could have sworn he saw the barest shade of sympathy lying in her gaze.

"I believe you."

Suddenly, the door banged open behind them, the way that they had come. Eren's heart lurched and he looked back behind them. Annie stood framed in the dim light of the hallway, eyes flicking between the both of them, rapidly assessing what she was looking at; the thunderous slamming of the door seemed to have alerted others as well, and Eren heard a soldier on one of the nearby roofs shout out. As his heart began to race ever quicker, he felt a tug on his collar and he looked to see Janice looking at him with a half-hearted smile.

"Time to figure it out though."

And she swung him around and threw him headfirst over the rooftop and towards the darkness below.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"Mikasa, wait!"

She was maintaining a solid lead ahead of them, her black hair whipping around the corner just as they rounded the one previous. Armin called after her, though he knew deep down, she wasn't stopping for any words they had to say; dawn was fast approaching and she had barely spared any of them a look as they sprung her from her cell. They had been in hot pursuit of her ever since they had started towards his room, and while Armin had been mostly worried about getting to Eren, he hadn't ignored the fact that there hadn't seemed to be a single guard or soldier patrolling the halls. That was as bizarre a fact as anything, but there was no time to question it.

"Mikasa, slow down, we still have plenty of… "

Jean's call which would surely have gone unnoticed, was left unfinished as they rounded a corner to find Mikasa standing stock still, staring down the length of the hallway. Connie's voice was a quiet swear behind them.

"Shit."

Captain Levi stood at the end of the hallway, fully geared as though he were about to go head to head with a dozen titans. His fingers lazily tapped the handles of his blades as he regarded them through the same narrow eyes that had been present since the first time they had seen him.

"I had imagined that we would probably have to deal with some half-assed escape attempt this evening… "

Slowly and deliberately, he drew a blade and gestured at them.

"But not from you."

Armin heard who must've been Jean shift uncomfortably behind him. Mikasa showed no signs of backing down, meeting the captain's gaze head on.

"Captain, I'm sorry, but I can't allow Eren to be killed."

"I'm afraid that isn't your choice to make."

"It's the choice of others then?"

He sighed as though this was something they had been over multiple times.

"You can't spend years under military training, and then just discount that there is any higher power beyond your love for your boyfriend."

Positioned behind her, Armin could only see the side of Mikasa's cheek grow red, though he was sure the rest of her face had followed suit.

"He isn't my… "

Levi stepped forward, in an as-yet-unforseen show of impatience.

"It does not matter if you are or not."

He looked finished with the conversation, and Armin suddenly realized that they were alone in the hall with the captain; would they be able to rush him if it came to that? Absurd, but Mikasa certainly seemed ready for that option, fists clenched and stance not wavering.

"There are a good many things about this world you do not understand. You don't seem to understand how Eren possesses the abilities he does, and that may be true. But simply because you are family, lovers, or friends, doesn't mean you get to decide his fate, when the rest of humanity's survival may very well hinge on whether or not he lives or dies."

Now Mikasa did take a step forward, desperation creeping into her voice, and Armin knew that she knew there wasn't any way they were going to get past him by force.

"And what if he could be the thing that tips the scales in favor of humanity?!"

Behind both of them, Connie spoke up, her words seeming to have inspired some level of confidence in him.

"That's right! You're not even willing to give him a chance! Take him out on an expedition, just one!"

Marco too now chimed in.

"He'll prove himself! You just have to give him a shot!"

Levi rolled his eyes.

"You're barking up the wrong tree; in case you have forgotten, the Survey Corps were the one trying to secure Eren's survival for that very purpose. But it is as out of my hands now as the Commander's and my station here now is one not of my own choosing."

There was a rift of silence, and Armin didn't believe there was anything more to say. Levi was either about to take them away, or they would all be cut to ribbons when they all tried to protect Mikasa from throwing her life away in a final attempt to secure Eren's survival. Then, Jean spoke up, very quietly.

"Where are all the other guards?"

Levi looked to him and Armin saw that by the look on his face, he wasn't prepared to answer that. Before the matter could be pushed beyond that however, there was a tremendous booming rumble from all around them, and the very walls seemed to shake, dust and tiny debris raining from above. Levi sighed through his nose and took off the other direction without another word towards them. Armin may have stood there paralyzed for much longer if Mikasa breaking into a run after the captain hadn't snapped him free of that state.

"Hold on!"

His cry was once again ignored, and they ran after Mikasa, who ran after Levi, who after glancing down towards the open door that signified Eren's room was now empty, ran for another set of stairs. Armin stared wide-eyed at the open door briefly, wondering who had also mustered up the will to break Eren free of his prison.

 _Or who just wants to see him dead._

They reached a long set of stairs that they hurried up before breaking out onto a roof. Two soldiers stood there, also dressed in full gear and looking supremely shook. One of them was holding down someone else, who didn't seem to be fighting back.

"Janice?"

Marco took a step towards her, but Levi flashed his blade quickly behind him, indicating that none of them were to move forward in the slightest. Janice made no movement at the mention of her name and stared towards the ground she was inches from, looking as though she couldn't be more bored at the proceedings. Levi nodded towards the soldier closest to him and as he spoke, Armin became aware of a gentle rumbling beneath his feet and panicked shouts that seemed to come from all around him.

"Where's Yeager?"

The soldier gaped at Levi a moment before gesturing behind him, waving his arm rather helplessly. Levi immediately strode past him, ignoring the man as he stuttered after him.

"Captain, you don't… it's not… it's not just HIM… "

His words came as a babble, and Armin could make no sense of them as he looked off in the direction the man who gesticulated towards. And as Levi stopped moving and Armin's eyes adjusted just enough to make out what they were looking at with only the moon as their light, he gasped aloud.

There was a shape, humanoid in form, sprinting full tilt towards the wall, what seemed to be its footsteps in rhythm with the shaking beneath Armin's feet. Armin knew who and what it had to be, but that hadn't been why he gasped. For there was not just one titan-shaped form running towards the shadow of the wall.

There were two.


	20. Chapter 20

For the second time in recent memory, Eren found himself making towards the wall with every bit of speed he was capable of; saved from the burden of having to force an enormous boulder through the district's streets, the journey was going much faster, though he wondered if that was a good thing.

 _I'm doing this… I'm really going to go against the entire military._

And why shouldn't he? They had opted to execute him out of fear for the threat he posed, even if that threat was as of yet unfounded. He would prove himself, even if that was outside of their jurisdiction.

He knew he was going to need to climb the wall to make his way over it; he would not force his way through the very same breach he had helped seal. Glancing down as he ran, he wondered if his titan fingers would be able to force their way into the wall to create finger-holds for him.

 _Well, they're going to have to._

It was stupid to think that a tremendous alarm wasn't being raised all across the district, even if he couldn't hear it happening. Torches and lamps would soon be lit all across the rooftops to flush him out, in case he was attempting to use the cover of night to hide himself. From there, soldiers would surely be dispatched, and Eren doubted that they would be held accountable if he were to be taken dead instead of alive. He surely knew that Captain Levi wouldn't hesitate to make that decision himself.

Sliding several dozen meters to a halt, he looked up at the giant black obstacle before him and drew back his hands before he could change his mind; a large part of him was telling him to turn around and surrender. They could cut him out and he would have proven his loyalty that way. Granted that was something they could believe was something Eren knew he couldn't pretend he was able to trust. Drawing back a hand, he prepared to bring it crashing down into the wall, and praying against everything that his fingers would find purchase.

In the moment his arm reached what would be its maximum arc, he stopped to consider something that his mind had only now registered as being possibly relevant. He had come well aware of the pounding that echoed around him as he ran, his tremendous feet shaking the very ground he moved swiftly across on his way to escape. But only now did he understand that, while he had indeed stopped sprinting, the pounding had not ceased.

But it had grown louder.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Levi looked out towards where the soldier had pointed Eren's direction to be.

 _On the run, then? Shame, Yeager, I had hoped you would have proven your loyalty by inaction… no guarantee that you staying put overnight would have changed Zackley's mind, but if there was ever a shot… no matter now._

A total of four soldiers currently accompanied him and the cadets on the roof, a fifth having run off to alert the soldiers resting below in the building who were to be on standby in case a situation of this very gravity arose. Levi quietly cursed himself for having not had more able-bodied soldiers, preferably of the Scouts, on the roofs instead of these few panicked, and helpless looking member of the Garrison. He was not so foolish to think that all Garrison members were useless in dealing with anything other than mild civilian disturbances, but having Scouts on standby instead would have provided him with a fair bit of time that could in fact wind up to be very precious in the task Levi was about to undertake.

 _And if Yeager manages to get away because of a mistake on my part…_

Embarrassment would be the least of his concerns, even if the escape would likely not be chalked up to failure on his part. He looked around at the four cadets who had been looking to spring Yeager free and the other whom he had no idea of what she had actually done.

"The four of you will return inside under escort of these four men who will watch you until my return."

He had no business ordering Garrison soldiers around, but he was sure they had no idea of that; to them, he was Captain Levi, someone to be respected, and more importantly, feared. There was no objection from them and he withheld a contemptuous shake of his head.

 _Fools._

"And while I'm waiting for my reinforcements… "

He turned and swung a foot into Janice's ribs; she grunted and toppled to the side. She had been left kneeling after being taken down by a Garrison soldier and hadn't said a word. Had it been anyone he hadn't had any experience with, Levi would have assumed that she had been remaining silent out of fear, but he had indeed undergone a short experience with her. He knew she was a rebel, she was openly emotionless, and likely very bitter and depressed. Levi had dealt with people like her before, and he would be lying to himself to say that he had been quite interested in her, especially during her testimony. But now, he had no time to deal with her gloomy and silent nature; he needed answers.

"What were you doing in this building tonight?"

Her mouth twitched very gently as though she had just thought of some smartass remark, but she remained silent, likely deeming that any response of that nature may very likely result in another hit. Unfortunately, silence also meant the same thing.

Janice curled around his boot as he drove it into her gut; he could hear Arlert shouting out behind him, but the words registered no meaning. Levi had very little time for anything other than answers.

"Why were you on the roof with Yeager?"

He could see her mind racing, and he reached down and grabbed her black, tied-back hair, yanking her to his eye level. She cried out briefly at the pain and Arlert shouted again, this time with his words echoing into Levi's head.

"Captain, please! That is not conduct you can… "

Levi heard his own words drown him out.

"Who is the second titan?"

He threw an elbow into her kidney, rewarding him a groan.

"Did you help Yeager escape?"

Her eyes flashed over his once, and he saw the answer there; he made to drop her, but he stopped as he saw something else as well. There was something flaming behind them, something he hadn't guessed would be there, and for the first time in a long time, he found himself caught up in whatever he was looking at.

"Captain?"

His fingers released automatically and Janice was dumped unceremoniously to the ground. Turning to face the sudden pounding of several pairs of feet, he looked quickly for any excuse that could allow him to turn attention away from the disorderly conduct he had just been taking part in. With a touch of amusement, he noted that Rico and Nanaba, while both present, were wearing parts of each other's uniforms.

"I thought I had requested everyone be on immediate standby."

Nanaba flushed and looked at her feet; Rico made no such silent excuse and looked back at him professionally.

"Apologies, sir. We weren't… "

Levi waved her down quickly; his statement had been only purposed to steer attention away from his misconduct, and judging by the gentle smirks from the soldiers who had accompanied them onto the roof, he had succeeded. He had no desire to hear anything more about whatever wild night Nanaba and Rico had been undergoing prior to his summons, however, and he moved to quickly inform his current squad of the situation.

"If everyone wasn't able to tell by the considerable shaking moments ago, Yeager escaped and is heading in titan form towards the edge of the district."

It didn't take a genius to figure that "edge of the district" meant "wall."

"Before he was out of sight, I witnessed him moving in that direction, but he was not alone. I don't know if the second titan running just behind him is the one that assisted him in sealing the breach earlier, but I would not rule out the possibility."

Any smirks or mild amusement amongst the half dozen soldiers who had arrived as his backup had vanished; fingers were tight on the handles of their blades, as they all stood fully ready to follow Levi to whatever objective he lay before them.

"Our position is a simple one; either we disable or kill these two, or we don't. I shouldn't need to tell you the consequences of failure, should that come about."

Nanaba looked at him carefully.

"Are we prioritizing disabling and capture?"

Levi moved towards the edge of the roof, turning his back on them and expecting them to rally to his side.

"Correct, but no one will hold it against you if you are forced to kill one of them to save your own life or that of a comrade."

They had wasted enough time, and Levi waited only a few seconds to hear if there were any further questions, but the only sound that came to his ears were the sounds of footsteps as the half dozen soldiers came up behind him. He pushed a foot on the edge of the roof and vaulted over into the semidarkness. The moon drifting in and out from behind would have to serve as enough light for them; he ordered Petra to push ahead and ascend the wall to the west where she could put the soldiers patrolling the wall on alert and they could light it up with torches and lamps. But as Levi weaved through the streets, he realized that he still had the images of Janice's eyes in his mind, glowing as brightly as the moon.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Eren bent his knees in a readied stance as the pounding footsteps grew nearer and nearer. Finally, the female-looking titan came into view, stopping several dozen meters in front of him; he cursed inwardly. Here she was again, though whether that was a good or bad thing, he had yet to determine. As she stood motionless in front of him, his mind raced briefly as to who her identity must be.

 _I know you. I have to know you, how else could I…_

And then, a stupidly obvious solution dropped into his head and he cocked it, wondering if that could truly be the answer.

 _Janice?_

He opened his mouth, every intention of shooting the question at her, demanding she tell him her identity if he had deduced wrongly, but all that issued were a series of barks and grunts. Eren grabbed angrily at his jaw as if he could somehow force it to relay the words he wanted so desperately to ask, but his fury was put on hold as the female titan motioned distinctively. It was a jab with her finger and nod towards the wall that was just behind Eren. He turned to look and it wasn't hard to deduce that she was suggesting that he ascend the wall.

 _Are you coming with me?_

Almost involuntarily, he made to ask this question as well, but the same noises billowed from his throat; she seemed to be growing slightly impatient and shook her head, short blonde hair whipping around before she gestured more aggressively towards the wall.

 _Alright… alright._

Raising his hand back as he had moments ago, he slammed his palm against the wall, fingers angled like points. None of the digits broke as the deafening slam echoed around him, and he realized his fingers had indeed buried themselves a couple feet into the wall, enough to allow him to climb. He hazarded one glance back at the female titan who nodded sharply and he turned back and began to climb.

The process seemed to be going quite quickly, but now Eren was able to really comprehend the magnitude of the wall itself. Despite his seemingly quick progress, the top of the wall didn't seem to be getting any closer, though as he looked, it looked as though lights were springing to life all across the top of it. He assumed that word had reached the wall that he had escaped and they were on the lookout for him, and he considered dropping back down and ascending in a different spot as he stopped to look at the glow of what were likely dozens of lights above him.

 _Would I have time to make it around to a different part of the wall?_

As he considered this option, a hand put itself under his arm and urged him forcefully upward; he looked over to see the female titan jerking her head upwards urgently as she tried to force him along. Eren looked at her suspiciously for several seconds before realizing that she was likely putting herself in just as much danger as he was. She had gotten away before and was now risking her concealment to help him once more; Janice or not, they appeared to be in this together.

 _At least for the time being._

Throwing his preconceived caution to the wind, he pushed further up the wall with the female titan just beside him. He hadn't a clue what would be waiting for him when he reached the top; it should only take him two or three strides on the top of the wall to reach the other side. Though whether or not he would be allowed to carefully mount his way and descend properly…

 _Let's cross that bridge when we come to it._

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"MIKASA, STOP IT!"

Armin planted himself in front of her, arms out as though he would somehow be able to stop her from trying to break down the door to the cell they had been placed in. She of course understood that there was no way she would physically be able to smash aside the door with her fists, but breaking the bones in her fingers and splitting her skin in more places than she could count was a much better alternative than simply sitting and doing nothing.

"Listen to him, we can't afford you killing yourself as a battering ram."

Connie's head was in his hands, his words muffled as he spoke. Mikasa took several deep breaths, feeling her heart pounding against her throat. She couldn't sit still, how could they expect her to do that? Levi had it in his head that he was going to kill Eren and she was stuck in this room unable to stop him. It was maddening.

"God… how did I get roped into this, how… "

Jean's quiet rambling was cut off as Connie slammed a fist against the ground to turn and look back at the taller boy.

"GODDAMMIT, SHUT UP!"

He looked suddenly furious.

"Quit sitting there like you didn't know exactly what could happen if we went through with this!"

Jean looked startled at the flash of anger he had been shown, but never one to back down, he swelled just as furiously. Mikasa tried to ignore them as her mind raced to try and fathom a way to get out

"I guess I just thought we had a better plan of action than walk to that freak's room and spring him out!"

"Yeah? And what would your plan have been Jean?"

"Fuck if I know! Something probably a little more detailed then that!"

"Oh shut up, we all know the only reason you came along was to try to show off to Mikasa!"

Mikasa had readily believed this too and it was proven true as Jean sputtered a moment before firing back.

"And why did you come then?!"

"Because I think we can trust Eren and I think it's a complete fucking waste for us to sit around while those idiots in the… "

There was a gentle rapping on the door, a very quiet sound, but one unexpected enough for them all to stop their individual tasking to turn and regard the wooden barricade that stood between them and whoever had come to see them.

"… Guys… ?"

Of all the voices that could have sounded, this was not one Mikasa had expected to hear; looking around at them in disbelief, Armin took a few steps towards the door and leaned his ear against it.

"… Krista?"

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Eren felt horribly anxious as he remained just a single pull and jump to coming over the wall, waiting for the female titan to come up alongside him. He had become well aware of the general silence that came from the top of the wall, where he had expected to hear a cacophony of shouting and movement. He was also painfully aware of the pounding of his hands as he forced the wall to form grips for his ascension. They knew exactly where he was going to be coming from, and the silence he heard beyond him and his companion climbing were only adding to his worry.

The moon had dipped behind the clouds, ensuring that the both of them were making the climb in total darkness, even if the only sound that seemed to resonate was the sound of their pounding away at the wall; Eren had stopped now and as the female titan drew up alongside him and stopped in place as well, they were plunged into silence to accompany the haunting blackness of the district.

They were there, Eren knew. Captain Levi among them, Eren was sure there were dozens of soldiers above them, ready to pounce, and was also sure that the only reason they hadn't made a move yet was due to the lack of light streaming from the moon above. They were burning time quick and he knew it.

 _It's now or never._

Reaching across through the blackness towards where he could faintly make out the female titan's silhouette, he placed a hand on her shoulder; he could feel more than see her head whip around suddenly to face him. He paused only a moment, knowing she couldn't likely see any real movements he was making. He only hoped she understood his meaning.

 _Please…_

Eren stopped a single moment, thinking to Armin and Mikasa, to Sasha and Connie, to everyone he was about to leave behind, leaving them to fend for themselves while he ran off in search of more friendly pastures. He hadn't a clue how he would survive on his own, though he hoped that Janice or whoever was next to him could help in that regard. He was scared and he knew there was no point trying to lie to himself about it. Leaving his friends, the closest thing he had to a family, was something he wasn't sure he could do. Then, he steeled himself.

 _I'm no good to them dead._

He unleashed a deafening roar as he leapt up and clambered over the wall, flooded with torch and lamplight, ready to face what last stand was between him and his survival.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Levi knew he was staking too much on this. If it worked, everything could end perfectly; both suspects could be apprehended and there would be no risk to their manpower. It was a flawless plan, if it worked. Rico was crouched next to him, her voice a barely audible whisper.

"On your call?"

He shook his head a fraction of an inch to the right and left.

"Don't wait for me. The moment you have eyes on, you call it."

She nodded and quietly retreated, leaving Levi alone. Ahead of him was a group of lamps and torches, behind him were more of the same; between them was a great empty space where Levi had surmised Eren Yeager would climb over in his attempt to scale the wall and drop down the opposing side. The trap was set, they now only waited for their moment.

He heard the roar and before Eren's titan form had even touched ground along the top of the wall, Levi heard Rico shout the command and he threw himself to the ground.

Moment of truth, as it were.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Eren hoped that his roar would have moved away any soldiers who had been standing on the part of the wall he was prepared to alight on; he had no intention or desire to harm anyone, the motive to prove himself as an ally to humanity still very much present. He was surprised then to find that the space he vaulted onto was tremendously open, not a person or object in sight. Flicking his head to the right, he saw a row of lights and the same on his left; on the latter however, there was plenty more to be seen.

 _Levi…_

Feeling his heart rate spike, Eren stared down the captain who was in the process of throwing himself to the ground.

 _Why… ?_

"FIRE!"

It was then he saw what was behind the captain, just as someone out of sight roared the order to fire. No less than twenty cannons were directed towards him, the empty space to his right now making perfect sense.

 _Shit._

Following suit with the shouted command, Eren had only a moment to glimpse the flash of their enormous barrels as they emptied their shot towards him before he was grabbed around the neck and pulled forward. The female titan had come up alongside him and had not simply attempted to pull him away, but had taken the full brunt of the cannonfire that now echoed loudly across the wall.

Time seemed to slow as Eren watched pieces of her body blown off disproportionately, and massive divots blasted where the cannons' shots didn't fully penetrate. A strange, shiny blue coating had slid over the nape of her neck, and a cannonball exploded against it, shattering. She collapsed to the ground, eyes wide in what was very likely distress, before pulling herself weakly towards the opposite end of the wall. At another shout, Eren turned to regard this new sound as he remained on his hands and knees in shock. Levi was gesturing furiously at the soldiers manning the cannons and it was no doubt he was preparing them for another volley. Noting the damage done to the female titan, there was no doubt that neither he, nor her, could likely take that.

 _They had been ready, I knew it. I led us into this, I fucked this all up, if only I had just stopped and thought for a second about what might…_

There came a screeching bellow from just ahead of him and Eren looked to see the female titan on the edge of the wall, looking back at him. Steam poured from all parts of her body, indicating it was working overtime trying to heal the immense amount of damage that had been dealt. The look on her face reflected in the torchlight was desperation and even a plea, before she pulled herself forward just a little farther, and fell.

Eren roared in denial; even if a titan could survive a fall from this high, he didn't know if she could survive one with the damage she had taken. Standing, he sprinted the last paces he needed and lunged, just as another shout, this time from Levi, sounded.

"FIRE!"

Eren's hand missed grabbing the female titan's arm, but he went over the side after her regardless, just as the moon finally gleamed out from behind the midnight clouds. Trying to force himself to fall quicker, willing it with all he could manage, Eren reached for her arm as she fell just ahead of him, looking back with those same wide eyes.

 _COME ON! DON'T LET HER DIE… BECAUSE OF ME…_

Just when he thought he wouldn't make it, he made a wild midair swing and caught her by the wrist.

 _YES!_

He drew back his free arm, and slammed it into the wall, fingers arched into a claw. While the pain was numbed, as it always was as a titan, he could tell that his arm was being ravaged by the incredible pressure now being placed upon it. Yet, despite that, there was a wrenching heave as Eren bellowed and the both of them were jerked slightly, their fall lessened. Eren's stomach gave a terrific surge as her arm was pulled free of her body and she fell the remaining dozen meters and crashed heavily to the ground. Eren kicked off from the wall and hit the ground rolling, running to her side.

The fall had been graciously lessened by the last minute attempt he had made to stop both their downward progress, but her body still appeared half-destroyed. As someone who very much wished for her survival, it hurt Eren just to look at, as Levi's voice echoed from above him, impossibly far off, yet so near all the same.

"YOU, AND YOU, CLEAN UP THIS MESS, THE REST OF YOU WITH ME, WE'LL PURSUE AS BEST WE CAN… AND WHERE ARE THOSE DAMN HORSES?!"

Roaring in distress, Eren reached down and picked up her crumpled form.

 _Don't be dead, please, don't be dead…_

He looked around madly for a single moment, before it dawned on him his only real option. Lowering his head, and ignoring the exhaustion that was starting to flood over him, he began to run.


	21. Chapter 21

Rico strode well clear of Levi as he stormed around the top of the wall, shouting orders to anyone unlucky enough to be caught engaged in his definition of slacking, or anyone who dared to meet his eyes. She hadn't seen much of the Captain, being as involved with the Garrison as she was, but she had still heard many tales of Levi, his unmatched skill, and total stoicism. Yet here he was, swearing under his breath, and looking fully prepared to slam anyone to the ground who would dare walk in front of him. Walking a large curve around where Levi currently paced, Rico made her way over to Nanaba, who was avoiding Levi's wrath by forcefully urging on members of the Survey Corps who were moving aside cannons to make room for the inevitable horses that Levi had demanded to be brought to him as immediately as was possible.

"We don't have all night, let's go, we don't even have all minute! If we don't have room for the horses, you can be damn sure that the Captain will be just as willing to ride your weak asses after those titans!"

She looked over as Rico approached and Rico watched a great deal of fight rush from her as her body seemed to slump; shouting one last order, she walked to the side slightly outside of the glow of the torchlight so that the both of them were illuminated primarily by the moon. Nanaba looked extremely anxious, constantly shooting looks back over her shoulder towards Levi every time he shouted some order behind them.

"I've never seen him like this… this is the most… unhinged I think he's ever been."

Rico noticed her hands shaking and she looked over to see if they were being watched before taking both of Nanaba's hands in her own.

"Calm down… he's just mad that they both managed to get down the wall, he can't blame any of us for that."

Deep down, Rico didn't know if that was necessarily true. Levi hadn't approached her regarding her part in their failed attempt to halt the two titans from making their way over and down the wall, though she wondered if he thought she had given the order to fire too early or too late. She had tried to convince herself that it wouldn't have made a difference; regardless of when she had given the order, it was unlikely the cannons would have done enough damage to immediately incapacitate both titans to the point where one wouldn't have been able to pull the other one over the wall with them. Nanaba looked as convinced as Rico felt.

"I don't know, I feel like he hates everyone who's up here."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Levi struggled to recall the last time he had hated himself this much. He stalked around the wall with contained fury, shooting a furious look and order to anyone who happened to be in his path. They would jump and follow his command, surely thinking that he blamed them for the loss of the titans, when in actuality, Levi had no one to blame but himself.

He should have ordered a second line of cannons to fire immediately after the first; they likely would have been more inaccurate being further back, but they may have landed a shot that would have kept Eren from being able to make the jump over and pulling the other titan with him. He should have been standing by immediately to follow up on the cannon volley; regardless of possible damage to himself, he should have been ready to make a move when and if the cannons failed to incapacitate their targets. He should have…

"Captain!"

Turning on his heel, Levi looked to regard the Military Police officer who had addressed him; the officer looked briefly surprised as though he had suddenly realized whom he was talking to, before straightening.

"The horses will be here within a couple minutes, how would you like us to… ?"

"Lower them immediately over the other side, we are not wasting time, mounting soldiers before we are ready to pursue."

The man shifted his weight, looking mildly uncomfortable.

"After what we've seen, is that wise, sir? We've seen titans that are fully capable of moving at night, would putting the horses over really be something that we should… "

Levi raised a hand, cutting him off.

"I will be going down with them. If there are any titans, my soldiers and I will handle them."

The officer didn't look convinced, but definitely didn't look as though he felt strongly enough about it to argue; he snapped a sharp salute and marched off to relay the orders. Levi was well aware that the idea of tackling titans at night again was definitely something that would turn plenty of soldiers off, but after they had managed to handle it fairly well the night previous, he was not going to allow any argument. Granted, the moon dipping in and out of cloud cover suggested that there would be a chance they could find themselves in total darkness, but Levi didn't care. He wasn't letting them get away.

"Levi!"

While his brain registered who had spoken his name, Levi's immediate response was to turn angrily to snap at whomever hadn't referred to him in accordance with military doctrine and had chosen to rather just call his name.

"Who are you to… "

As his eyes locked on to who had spoken, he collected himself swiftly, just as his brain let him know the voice belonged to.

"Sir. I thought you would be remaining close to the heart of the district."

Erwin approached him with a grim smile, a small escort of Scouts behind him.

"Talking with bureaucrats while my soldiers are out making strides for the betterment of humanity holds no interest to me."

He waved a hand and his entourage moved off and Erwin and Levi walked to the edge of the wall, peering over the side into the relatively sheer darkness.

"They ran off I assume?"

Levi scoffed.

"Not unless they were stupid enough to stay close to the wall in an attempt to throw us off. Not sure that would do them any good, other than buy themselves a little time."

Erwin nodded as he looked left and right towards the ground from which the wall rose from.

"We ought to send two small groups in both directions as is."

"Already organized."

Another nod. Levi stood with his arms crossed, waiting for the passive aggressive scolding he had a feeling was coming his way. He had screwed up in more ways than one; Eren had been lost on his watch, and he had failed to secure both of the titans in an ambush of his own design, and should this inevitable pursuit fail, Levi knew that he would be likely witnessing some level of severe discipline for what he had done. Or failed to do.

 _As if any of those fools in the tribunals have any idea what it takes to man an operation of this gravity… they just sit there and assume that if we don't deliver them exactly what they want, they think they may as well just dish out…_

"I'm impressed."

Levi looked up very quickly. Erwin was looked away from him towards the cannons that were being moved to allow the horses to be able to be moved over the wall.

"Success or failure aside, it was a brilliant move to try and disable to the titans with a cannon ambush."

Despite the praise, there was no elation for Erwin's words in Levi's heart; keeping his arms crossed, he looked back over the side of the wall.

"You can't throw around success and failure like that, it was a plan that failed, one that… "

"I was briefed on my way here by a Scout who met up with me. He asserted that it appeared that one of the titans took severe damage from the cannonfire?"

This was true.

"Yes."

"And both titans appeared to be moving together, as a pair?"

This too Levi assumed to be true.

"Yes."

Erwin shrugged.

"Then regardless of whether or not they made it over the wall, you've managed to either manage to slow them down significantly, as one has to wait for the other, or you've put their number down to one, if the titan form was damaged enough to keep it from moving."

Levi watched him carefully as this thought process stewed in his head.

"You think that Yeager has taken the other person out of their titan form?"

"I think that's one of two possibilities."

There was no reply to be made as both men resumed peering into the sheer darkness; they remained there for several more minutes

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The world seemed to rock as though the sheer force of his feet hitting the ground were causing the whole land to be tossed and turned; Eren was well aware of what that feeling meant, however, and focused in on anything except the exhaustion that was starting to plague his body.

 _I can't stop yet… I can't stop yet…_

The word "yet" was something almost hilariously out of reach. Eren was well aware that Levi was surely preparing to charge after him with an entourage of nearly equally experienced soldiers, and Eren knew that he couldn't keep carrying this large, damaged body and defend himself at the same time.

 _Defend… who am I kidding. Even if I was able to move more freely, there's no way I could keep off the Captain, extra soldiers aside._

Eren knew his only chance was to keep running as long as he could, even as he could feel the muscles of his titan body beginning to ache and tire to the point where he knew there wouldn't be much time he would be able to keep moving. He looked down at the relatively cathartic titan he was carrying during his flight, and as he looked at those closed eyes, he wondered if the person within was truly unconscious.

Immediately, he slowed his pace and halted, lowering the steaming body to the ground. In the moonlight, she remained motionless and Eren knew that there was only one thing he would be able to do to make it possible for both of them to survive. Stumping to his knees, he closed his eyes, and focused…

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

In the separate cell she was being held in, Janice massaged her aching ribs, grimacing as the pain flushed through her torso again and again. For being as small as she was, she hadn't expected Levi to hit as hard as he had, though she should have immediately thought to herself or Annie to dissuade that assumption.

 _Fucker._

Having heard so much about the single strongest soldier of humanity, the fact that she had now engaged in a personal altercation with him, she found it strange to have had him essentially on the ropes not an hour ago. His face hadn't revealed it, nor his tone, nor even his actions as he beat her in a way that would have surely earned him a punishment or two in front of a tribunal, but in his eyes. She had seen there what she knew had been reflected in her eyes on the day the wall had been breached, as she held her friend's body, trying to inject life into it through pure will alone. A helplessness as he waited for his reinforcements as he knew there was little he could do in that moment. Janice had provided him an outlet to vent.

Not a moment ago, Janice had heard the thunderous, organized pounding of cannons and she wondered if there had been a particular outcome and if Eren or the other titan had been taken down or if they had escaped. It was a strange feeling to consider that her actions may have perhaps resulted in his escape to parts unknown and she found it just as strange that she had taken his story without a grain of actual evidence. She had heard it through other people as Eren hadn't actually been allowed to testify, but she had assumed that he had no malicious intent towards humanity, nor did he know how he had been granted his abilities.

 _No use worrying about it now. What I did, I did, and if he's gone, there's…_

Janice looked up in mild interest as there was a distinct fumbling with the lock at her door; she had assumed that it would be at least a day before anyone, hopefully Levi…

 _Hopefully?_

… likely Levi would come and let her know exactly what sentence she was going to be facing for what was essentially treason of the highest order. But as the door swung open it was not the face of some unknown military officer that looked down on her sitting, but the face of Mikasa Ackerman. Janice blinked once as she tried to wrap her head around how this girl had managed to be set loose from her confinement; her crime hadn't been as egregious purely because she had been later to the party than Janice had on breaking free Eren. Then, she saw the hastily donned omni-directional gear and knew immediately.

"You busted out?"

Mikasa didn't confirm or deny, but she didn't need to. Her hands were fiddling with the handles of her gear and Janice wondered for a single, crazy moment if the taller girl was going to kill her.

"Why did you save Eren?"

To Janice, the word "save" didn't feel accurate or appropriate, but she didn't refute it; frankly, it was something she was pondering herself.

"I guess just because I gave him a beating during the tribunal that maybe wasn't fair, maybe I oughta just give him a chance to… "

"Bullshit."

Mikasa stared down at her with a fierce expression and Janice gave a humorless smirk; she pushed herself to her feet.

"Alright, Ackerman, no bullshit. I don't know why I saved Yeager. I knew I would be putting myself up shit creek if I did, but I did it anyway. I have no real answer for you."

She doubted Mikasa believed her and she didn't care.

"Now if you just came here to interrogate me, you may as well wait until the good captain comes back. I'm sure he wouldn't mind allowing beating the hell out of me for whatever answers you're digging for. Otherwise, I'd rather be alone."

This wasn't a new feeling, being alone was certainly something she preferred, and she didn't want to talk to Mikasa or anyone for that matter. Turning back to the cot she was provided with, she waited for the door to close behind her. Seconds ticked by and the sound didn't come and she bit her lower lip, feeling a mild rush of anger.

 _You have to just stand there trying to get me to react or say something you want to hear, why the fuck are you…_

"Come with me."

Janice half-turned, and waited for Mikasa to elaborate.

"Sasha and Krista came to try and break us out. Armin, Connie and Jean thought they'd be better off staying and taking our chances with whatever we'd be dealt for what they assumed we were trying to do. I don't care what they would do to us, and I lied and said I just was going to run and try and find out what was going on, but I lied."

 _Shocking._

"I'm going after him. You should come with me."

Janice finished her turn to cross her arms and look Mikasa dead on.

"Why?"

"You're facing possibly a life sentence, though public execution probably wouldn't be too surprising for what you did, especially if Eren gets away."

"Maybe I don't care."

"I think you do. The whole district is on high alert, no one's going to care if they see two cadets running around. And they certainly aren't likely to be keeping too close of an eye on the armory."

Janice processed what Mikasa had told her cautiously. She wouldn't admit it, but the guessing as to what her sentencing would be was absolutely correct; she didn't imagine there would be any mercy shown to someone who had allowed a titan-shifter to escape. Her own indifference to her fate was something that surprised her.

 _This isn't what you wanted. You wanted to make it outside of these damn walls and begin cutting down titans as quickly as you were able. This won't get you there, not even close. Why did you save him if you knew this was what would come of it?_

And yet here was an out; run after him with Mikasa and live to see another day. She had no love for the girl but there was certainly something to be gained from following her lead, at least for the moment. It was better then rotting in her cell until her judgement was called down. She hated that she would be accepting a favor this way for she couldn't stand the idea of being indebted to someone else. But this was the only way she could see out of this immediate mess.

 _Suck it up._

Gritting her teeth, she tilted her head.

"Okay. We'll do it your way, Ackerman."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Though his massive titan body remained where he had left it, the exhaustion Eren had felt within was no less present as he gasped for air, dragging the damp, unmoving body of whoever his savior had been. Through willpower, he had managed to free himself from his own titan after freeing the person within the female titan as well; he now found himself pulling them in no particular direction, simply content with moving away from the wall. He wasn't sure if they were going to be coming for him the first chance they got, but he wasn't putting anything past Levi; if his pursuers were confident enough to maneuver in the dark, coming after them now would be preferable as they would deal with no interference from whatever titans stood dormant in the night.

Eren wasn't sure if he had heard thunder a minute or so ago as the pounding in his ears as a result of his strain could very well have been playing tricks on him, but as what was very clearly a drop of rain struck him on the forehead, it became clear to him that a storm was pushing in.

 _I need… to find a place to rest._

He hated the idea of stopping to allow his potential pursuers any time to catch up, but his body couldn't last much longer; he was aware that he was moving up an incline and it wasn't helping his weary state. With each breath that rushed from his body, he spoke in short, jerky fragments.

"Alright, alright… over this hill… we'll take a… rest and then… we can get… "

"Moving again" never left his mouth as his foot stepped onto a spot of land that didn't exist. The next thing he knew, he was falling face forward and he struck the grassless ground a dozen feet later, the person he was carrying landing on top of him. Too breathless to even let loose a swear towards the blackness above him, Eren could only pant for breath as rain droplets began to fall faster, striking him in the face with strong, wet slaps. Pushing himself to a sitting position, he put his hands on the person now resting on his lap, preparing to push them gently off so they could begin moving.

 _No time to rest… not…_

Once again, his word processing was cut short as a flash of lighting rolled a ways behind him and illuminated the hill he had toppled over the side of. Coming up the far side of it, it had indeed been a hill, but now as Eren saw it, it was just the far side of a cave; wide and not particularly deep, it yawned at him with an appealing nature and Eren made his decision quickly. Pushing himself to his feet, he ran to the entrance to make sure it was as spacious as he had hoped, but only on his tiptoes was he able to touch the roof; turning back, he ran out into the now gentle, but steady rain, dragging his escort inside, before running back out once more.

 _Sticks, sticks, sticks, sticks…_

A fire wouldn't have been even considered if they were out in the open, but the cave would hide it well, and would keep both of them from growing unreasonably cold. He needed to work quickly if he was to find enough wood that had yet been touched by the rain, and a minute later, as the rain reached a point where the steadiness of it was equivalent to standing in a shower, Eren stepped back into the cave with full arms. He sorted through the twigs and branches he had managed to feel out in the dark, throwing aside the damp or wet ones and putting the rest in a small pile. With a fair amount of minutes and cursing at the two rocks that continued to provide him with little to no sparks, a small fire finally burst to life in front of him and he heaved a sigh. Urging it into growing a considerable amount, Eren pushed back and leaned against the wall of the cave, finally allowing himself a chance to rest. Closing his eyes, his mind drifted to what he was doing; he was now a fugitive, likely something he wasn't going to be able to come back from. He thought to Mikasa and Armin, wondering what they thought of him, whether they believed him to be…

"Eren… "

Snapping his eyes open, he realized he had forgotten that he wasn't alone in the cave. Looking over to the person that had saved him and whom he had dragged who knew how many yards, he watched the firelight light up their face and his heart stopped.

"Annie?!"


	22. Chapter 22

Mikasa and Janice slipped over the top of the wall to be greeted by the sound of forceful shouts and a great deal of horses neighing and stomping their hooves in response to the frenzy of activity that surrounded them. Looking to the taller girl, Janice waited patiently for some sort of decision to be made on how they planned to proceed; at this point, she was along for the ride and had given very little thought of her own to how she might sort their predicament if they needed to.

"It looks like they brought a surplus of horses, definitely more there then will be needed by the Scouts."

Janice looked up, surprised at how quickly Mikasa had counted.

"So? We're hardly dressed to fit in outside of the gear we swiped, no one's gonna buy us just hopping in with everyone else."

"I know. We'll have to improvise."

She motioned to two members of the Corps who were off to the side, chatting while resting against a couple of crates, just along the line of light the torches provided. At once, Janice knew what the plan was and crouched alongside her companion, quickly making her way along the shadowed area until they were positioned behind the crates and within feet of the two oblivious young men.

Only a minute later, the pair of them dared to step into the light, wearing uniforms that were slightly too large; Mikasa's was difficult to notice without considerably close inspection, but Janice, due to her more seriously small stature, would have looked a good bit out of place if anyone looked to her for more than a couple seconds. Trying to adjust it as they made their way towards the other Scouts and the horses, Janice grit her teeth as she tried to adjust her uniform to appear less conspicuous while hissing under her breath.

"I'm gonna look like a fucking kid playing dress up."

Mikasa moved slightly ahead to block Janice halfway from anyone who looked towards them approaching.

"Don't worry about it. This isn't a lineup, no one's going to care even if they do… "

A sharp bark to their right caused them both to glance over quickly.

"Let's GO, we're killing time!"

The soldiers bringing over the remainder of the horses jumped and doubled their speed upon Levi's orders and Mikasa and Janice swiftly worked their way over towards the far side of where Levi's line of sight would travel. Keeping their faces turned down, they each put their hands on the reins of an unoccupied horse and prayed that no one would have reason to look over or talk to them. Janice used her time standing still to look around carefully, making sure that they weren't being watched; as far as she knew, no one would be able to recognize them, at least not for what had transpired on the roof between them and the captain.

 _If anyone does, though, this will be one damn short trip._

She gave a brief start as her eyes moved over the two soldiers she recognized as Nanaba and Rico, who were standing off to the side, looking apprehensive. Despite the commotion that surrounded her, Janice found that by inching a couple feet to her left, she was able to catch in on their conversation.

"You don't need to be worried… this isn't the first time I've went outside the wall before, you know."

Rico seemed to wait a fair bit of time before answering.

"This is a suicide mission. This is only to save Levi's damn ego."

Nanaba gave a snort and out of the corner of her eye, Janice saw Rico grip the taller woman by the front of her uniform.

"You know it's true! There's nothing TO this, Yeager got out on his watch and now who knows how many of you are going to die, riding out into the middle of the damn night… "

"You understand that Yeager is a lot more than a matter of pride for the captain? He's a person who can transform into a fucking sentient titan, we can't just let someone like that run off."

Again, Rico paused and Janice saw Nanaba lift the other woman's chin slightly.

"Hey, look at me. I promise that… "

With that, Rico pushed away, shaking her head firmly.

"Don't. Don't you dare promise me anything. Go."

Turning, she marched back to the other Garrison troops, all of whom stood to the side, not daring to get in the way of Levi or any of his men, but near enough that they could be of help if need be. Nanaba watched Rico walk away and didn't look back to her fellow Scouts or the horses until another soldier called her name and she turned back grudgingly. Janice held back a resentful snort as she kept her head down.

 _Love… as a member of the Scouts no less, what kind of insanity would cause you to go after someone who could wind up dead any day just doing their job?_

She straightened, though she continued to keep her gaze downcast as Levi walked to stand in front of the small amassed unit of Scouts. Behind him, Erwin Smith and a few Scouts stood close by, watching intently. As he looked around at all of them, Janice could have sworn she could feel his eyes on her head as she avoided looking at him, and she waited to be called out.

"Soldiers… I don't need to reinforce the magnitude of our mission. Yeager is dangerous and it is unknown the extent of his abilities, but we do know that barely minutes ago, he scaled the wall with another titan holding intelligence. We are to dispatch the both of them, regardless of what that requires of us. As you know, Yeager was sentenced to death and there is no reason to keep yourself from remembering that if you find yourself up against him. However, both of them, the unknown titan specifically, would provide a considerable more use to us alive if capture is an option."

His flat gaze moved around them all.

"That said, I don't expect any of you to try and risk cutting them out if the opportunity maintains the extreme risk I expect it to. To that end, don't hesitate if striking means saving your own life."

He cut off, not saying any more and Janice held her breath as she waited for anyone to speak up. Finally, a soldier standing off to the left carefully raised his voice.

"Sir… most of us fought in the dark earlier before the wall was sealed… our grapple points are going to be limited to the titans themselves and with the moon dipping in and out of the clouds… "

As if to drill in his point, thunder rumbled in the distance and several members of the Survey Corps looked upward as though expecting lightning to flash. Unfazed, Levi regarded the soldier through bored-looking eyes.

"I'm not expecting any remarkable actions from any of you, all I am expecting is for the lot of you to follow my lead."

His undertone of condescension was impossible to miss, but no one looked offended or upset; rather, as Janice looked around, she saw a good many faces showing hope and confidence. Levi seemed to notice this as well.

"We're done wasting time. Saddle up!"

Without flair, Scouts around them jumped onto their horses; Janice required an obnoxious amount of effort to hoist her small frame up to sit atop her own steed. She looked to Mikasa who had thrown up her hood to follow suit of the other soldiers around her and Janice was about to ask why before a drop of rain struck her square on the top of the head.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Eren rocketed to his feet so quickly that he dashed his head against the curve of the cave wall that he was sitting against. Ignoring the spinning and pain, he let out a laugh that conjoined its sound with a distant boom of thunder as he focused his gaze on Annie.

"It was you!"

Grunting, she pushed herself into a sitting position, rubbing her temples with her pointer and middle fingers on both sides of her head.

"Don't shout, please."

Eren was able to manage this much, but nothing she said could have hoped to curb his explosive shock and interest that now was rushing through his veins. There was so much he wanted to ask, so much that he wanted to talk to her about, that he hadn't the slightest clue where to start; he opted to begin where his train of thought had began.

"You're like me!"

It wasn't a question, but it was as much a point to force her into talking as anything. Looking at him through the same annoyed eyes that had always greeted his overenthusiasm in the past, Annie sighed.

"I should have stayed sleeping."

Walking over briskly and sitting in front of her with the same air of a child waiting to hear their favorite story from a rarely seen grandparent. Eren didn't relent.

"You're like me! I'm not the only one!"

Her brow furrowed at him.

"Didn't I ask you not to shout?"

Taking in a deep breath, he nodded, rocking back and forth excitedly.

"Sorry."

He refrained from speaking to give Annie a chance to wake up and the following several seconds were some of the longest of his life. Finally, she sighed and looked to him.

"Yes. Yes, I am."

He leaned forward eagerly.

"Do you know how we are the way we are?"

She opened her mouth, but didn't manage a single word as words began to flow from Eren's mouth with all the restraint of a waterfall.

"Can we fix this? How does this affect us outside our ability to transform?"

Annie closed her eyes.

"Eren… "

"Why did you save me? How long have you known about your ability? How did you know that… "

"Eren!"

Grimacing, she gripped at her temples again and Eren brought his lips together tightly; not wanting to push any further, he allowed himself to wait painfully again as raindrops began to steadily come down just outside the cave entrance. After nearly a minute, Annie sighed again and looked at him through tired eyes.

"Eren, I can't tell you why we are the way we are."

His heart sank, but then he realized exactly what she had said; he put his palms on the ground, pushing himself forward as his voice left him in a harsh accusatory fashion.

"Wait, 'can't' or 'won't'?"

She refused to meet his gaze as she continued.

"We're not unique. I know that there are others like us, it's not just us."

Willing to ignore the fact that she hadn't answered his most recent question, Eren's mind raced.

"How do you know that, do you know others who… "

He jumped to his feet once more as a realization struck him hard.

"The armored titan! The colossal titan!"

Shaking her head wearily, Annie waved a hand at him.

"Eren, please… "

He dropped back into a sitting position, watching her expectantly as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Yes, I can… I can assume that those two are both sentient and shifters the same way we are."

Choosing to play devil's advocate, Eren tilted his head.

"They couldn't just be extreme variations of aberrant titans?"

It was a question he had asked before in the titan theory portion of their classes and that seemed to be about as far as the ideas regarding the two titans who had broken through the wall went. Now, with this new theory before him however, Eren felt a tremendous sense of apprehension, especially as Annie gave him a look.

"No titan, aberrant or otherwise, would have the sentiency to make a tactical move like that and then promptly disappear. No, they were like us, I have no doubt of that."

To think that he was a member of the same caste of beings who had destroyed his life caused Eren to shudder, but he pushed the thought away.

"How long have you known that you were… like this?"

She moved her eyes away from his once more, and he wondered why she was being so closed-in.

"As long as I can remember."

He scooted closer to her.

"Why did you join the military then? What was there to gain by doing that, if you knew you had an ability like that? What was the point of… "

Reaching out suddenly, she gripped his shoulder tightly.

"Eren, I know you have a lot of questions. I would too. But you need to work with me right now, we don't have time for this."

Eren couldn't imagine having time for anything else at the moment, but before he could push forward with this line of thought, Annie continued.

"Where are we exactly right now?"

Blinking, Eren opened his mouth without speaking for a moment; this question seemed so completely irrelevant next to everything he was looking to put to rest.

"I… I'm not sure, I took us outside the wall and worked towards what I think was a northwest direction."

Gesturing outside towards the rain, he looked out as though he could see what he was talking about.

"The lights atop the wall are visible from here just barely, I don't know if the rain will have obscured them from sight, but if… "

He made it no further before Annie forced herself to her feet and staggered to the cave entrance and out into the rain; Eren jumped to his feet and rushed after her.

"Wait, wait, should you be walking?"

She stopped only a few paces outside the cave entrance, rain steadily falling around her and Eren stopped next to her; in the direction she was looking, the lights atop the wall were distant in the far distance, looking to be suspended in the dark, as though they were low hanging stars. Looking in the opposite direction then, Annie narrowed her gaze into what was almost complete dark before sighing and nodding.

"Alright. We need to go."

"But… you just woke up and you don't look like you're able to… "

Looking at him coldly, Annie crossed her arms.

"Eren, I'm fine, we need to go."

Thinking as quickly as he could to try and come up with another excuse to return to their previous conversation, Eren was once again cut off as she held up a hand, seeing him getting ready to speak again.

"I know you want to keep asking questions, but we can't now. Once we get to where we're going, we can talk then."

Rain dripping down his face, Eren shook his head in disbelief. Why? Why would she deny him this information, the lack of which he had known had nearly resulted in his execution and now fugitive status? Despite what she had done for him, despite what she thought, Eren couldn't bring himself to just blindly take off with her, not blindly. He crossed his arms to mirror her and straightened his back.

"Why?"

Eren saw her lips tighten in the soft light of the fire that glowed from within the cave and she threw some of her rain-soaked hair out of her eyes.

"What?"

"After everything I've had to go through, after being kept so completely in the dark, you want me to just run off with you and blindly accept that you know what's best?"

Looking around in exasperation, Annie spoke to the ground.

"Eren, we do not have time for this victim bullshit."

Throwing his hands up, he took a step back from her.

"Yeah, why not?! What if I think that I deserve some sort of explanation after everything I've had to fucking deal with and now, once again, someone's telling me I just need to go along with what they think is best, I've only saved humanity and done nothing beyond express I have no malicious intent or any shit like that, and now I've gone from people who want to kill me to people who won't tell me a damn thing!"

She waited for him to finish and kept the silence that came when he finished ranting; behind her, there was a distant flash and after the rumble that followed several seconds later, she spoke, her voice a tone softer.

"I understand. I would be upset to, but we can't assume that we're not being followed."

Throwing a single humorless laugh into the rain, Eren tilted his head back.

"And you think that we'll somehow be safer just running off into the dark?"

"I know of an old shack that operated as a checkpoint before the wall fell. It's where I planned on the both of us ending up originally before I was… indisposed."

Processing what she said quickly, Eren shrugged flatly.

"What makes that any better then here?"

He could sense her impatience, but he didn't care; even if these weren't the answers he was looking for, he was going to get some regardless.

"I've been out there before; I tore up the floorboards and made a niche the size of a small room that's perfectly feasible as a spot to hide. I spent the last several weeks of training sneaking out and filling it with food and water in case I ever needed to use it to hide for any period of time."

Anger waning to slight confusion, Eren's arms dropped to his side.

"Why? You had no idea that you would find me and that this would all go down this way."

The exasperation leaked deeply into her words.

"Eren, do you really think I only got it ready for this instance only? There were several cases where it could have proven useful especially if… "

Her eyes widened and Eren saw her gaze aimed over his shoulder; spinning, it didn't take but a second to notice what had caught her attention. Shooting skyward, visible enough through the sheets of rain that were coming down, was an orange flare. It climbed high into the sky before petering out, its smoke trail falling away to nothing. Eren stared at it even after its disappearance for several seconds before Annie grabbed his shoulder.

"Can we go NOW?"

The cold reminder that he was being pursued as well as his ever-present curiosity were enough to quell Eren's anger, at least for the moment. Nodding, he quickly ran over to snuff the fire before lowering his head and following Annie's brisk jog into the dark and rain.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The feeling of burning had returned with significant pangs, a feeling Eren had hoped not to have to feel again this quickly; Annie hadn't slowed once, only looking back to make sure he was behind her and to urge him on if he slowed. He was impressed at her ability to keep ahead of him after she had appeared so beaten after waking up, but he wasn't one to complain. The flares that occasionally were fired up behind them indicated that they were being very quickly outstripped, the only saving grace being that they weren't headed in the exact direction that he and Annie were currently headed. That said it wouldn't be long before they discovered the area where the titan footprints ceased and it was anyone's guess at how the chase would proceed at that point.

"Keep moving!"

Annie threw the words back at him for the umpteenth time and he was about to snap off a smart reply when a faint light appeared ahead of him, hovering in the darkness, dissimilar to the flashes of lightning that were increasing in frequency. There was no flashing from the light ahead, only a gentle flickering as it persisted through the wall of rain that tumbled around them. Annie must have seen it as well as she sped up and Eren heaved in a huge breath and followed suit.

A minute later they pulled to a halt in front of the two floor shack that Annie must have been referring to. Eren put his hands on his knees, bent over as he struggled to form any sort of speech.

"This… this is the… the place, huh?"

Not bent, but breathing just as heavily, Eren could see the dark silhouette next to him nod fervently and he looked back to the building as a thought suddenly struck him and his pulse quickened.

"Annie… there's someone in there."

The light was a dead giveaway to this end, but Eren hadn't even considered the possibility as he sprinted for his life. Now, in front of what should have been a long abandoned shack, the fact that a light was on was reason enough to worry him significantly. He was surprised, then, to hear a short, quiet laugh as Annie's face was thrown into relief by a flash of lightning.

"I know."

She started towards the shack then, motioning for him to follow; Eren looked back nervously as another flare fired upwards, closer still.

"They belong to me."


	23. Chapter 23

With his breathing returning to a relatively controllable pace, Eren couldn't help but fight down a feeling of worry that he shouldn't be entering this house behind Annie. His nearing pursuers notwithstanding, he was feeling a strange vibe, one that he had remembered feeling moments before the Colossal titan had appeared and forced its way into his life. It was stupid he knew, but it took Annie sharply barking his name before he found himself able to walk quickly up the short steps to step out of the rain and into the musty building.

The moment the old wooden door swung shut, a strange quiet overtook them, with only the gentle, distant rattle of rain pummeling the roof offering any kind of sound for him to absorb beyond the pair's labored breathing and the pounding of his heart in his throat. That is, until the creaking of footsteps on the old wooden floor above him sounded and gave him cause to jump. Looking upwards, he watched where the sound came from as the steps crossed above him and made their way to the narrow staircase just off entrance hallway. Feeling that same sense of apprehension again, Eren took an involuntary step back as whoever had been just above him worked their way down the stairs to finally come into view.

"Well… I was hoping we wouldn't have to head out into the rain to track down a couple of corpses."

Though he recognized him instantly, Eren still needed a moment to let his mouth churn out the name that he knew at first sight.

"Reiner?!"

The tall, muscled individual crossed his arms upon his descent and gave him a hard smile in return.

"Hey, Eren. Glad you made it."

Able to do nothing more than try and keep his brain from running away from him, Eren felt himself knocked aside as Annie brushed past him as though he were an errant piece of furniture; her eyes glowed with a fervent and withheld anger as she stormed up to Reiner, her aura making her easily equal his size.

"What is with the light?! Do you want the Scouts to know where we are?!"

Moving his hands outward in a placating gesture, Reiner seemed to shrink slightly.

"I thought that it would help if you guys were able to see the light of it off in the distance in case you weren't able to… "

She advanced on him further still.

"I've been working on memorizing the exact location of this place as well as precisely how to get here nonstop for weeks! Did you really think that I wouldn't… "

She cut herself off with an impatient noise and rushed up the stairs much quicker than Reiner had descended them, shouting as she did.

"Bert! Kill all the fucking lights, NOW!"

A quick paced scampering informed Eren that there was indeed another person above him and that it very likely was Bertholdt. Keeping his gaze upwards a moment longer, he slowly looked down to look at Reiner who was watching him carefully; he could only manage a few words.

"How… how did… "

Leaning against the wall just next to the railing up the stairs, Reiner flicked his own gaze upward as the two sets of footsteps above their heads moved around quickly, no doubt extinguishing the lights that Eren and Annie had seen glowing in the windows mere minutes ago.

"Did we know about Annie? She told us."

Eren blinked and his continuous feeling of disbelief was stifled momentarily by a jab of skepticism.

"She just… told you."

Reiner seemed to shift uncomfortably as though Eren had just caught up in the middle of some perverse act.

"We… we didn't mean to find out, but we did. There was a little bit of a moment where we weren't sure if she would just kill us for finding out, but somehow… I don't know, she wound up trusting us with this secret… "

The low, rolling tone of his voice seemed heightened and almost nearing frantic as though he were sure in that very moment that he wasn't going to be believed.

"… which is why when you came along during the attack just recently, Annie came to us for help, to save you."

Though he didn't doubt Reiner being genuine enough about something like this, the sheer risk he and Bertholdt were taking for himself and Annie had Eren scratching his head; above, they heard Annie shout something.

"You and Bert are willing to risk being found out and strung up as traitors just to help two people who have an ability you don't understand… or can even trust?"

Strangely, this seemed to put Reiner at ease.

"I wouldn't worry about it. The both of you exposed yourself trying to save humanity, I don't doubt that your intentions are more pure than anything my skeptical mind could muster."

Pounding echoed down the stairs and Annie appeared at the bottom; whipping her head around quickly, she finally rushed to the lamp that had been lit in the entrance hallway and doused it, leaving the three of them in relative darkness before a single flash of lightning from outside cast a brief white glow throughout the shack. Despite his limited vision, Eren could have sworn he could see Annie glaring at Reiner through furious eyes.

"If we're found because you lit this place up like a damn beacon in the middle of the night… "

Staggered, slower steps above indicated Bertholdt slowly making his way down to join them as Reiner turned to face the smaller, but no less imposing Annie.

"How long did you have on them?"

She took a long inhale through her nose before walking to the front window and peering out into the wet and stormy evening.

"Three minutes, at least."

Eren jumped lightly as Reiner clapped his hands together.

"Then there's nothing to worry about! Assuming they're even heading in the right direction… "

"Even through rain, the smell of smoke is distinct, if that bastard Levi gets even a whiff of it… "

"They still won't have any idea which direction to follow. If they do come across this place, which is entirely possible, we head below, just like we planned, and none will be the wiser."

Annie didn't move from her place by the window and Eren looked out as well, waiting to see a military-grade flare rocket into the black sky.

"I don't know if this is going to work."

The sincerity of her words was impossible to miss and Eren could see Reiner freeze slightly over it.

"What do you mean?"

She turned her head from the window slightly, though she didn't move from her position.

"Do you really think that if they find this place they won't rip it to pieces if they think there's even the slightest chance we're inside?"

In the light of another stormy flash, Eren could see Reiner and Bertholdt exchange looks.

"Then what do you propose we do? Run out into the night and brave the storm? Run until we reach Shiganshina?"

Aware that a very serious discussion that likely would decide his fate was happening, Eren still couldn't keep himself out of the conversation when the word of his home district was spoken; he still had so many questions to fire at Annie, but he knew that now was not the time, but this wasn't something he could ignore.

"Shiganshina? We're going to Shiganshina?"

He could feel the three of them turn to look at him in a brief moment of quiet before Bertholdt surprised him by being the one to answer.

"It's the closest place we can go that gives us the best chance to hide out. We'll be able to stay safe from titans because of you and Annie and there will be plenty left over from the attack to keep us safe and protected for as long we need."

The plan made sense and had he been given the opportunity to pick an option for a place to flee from the Scouts, this was an idea he could certainly see himself coming up with and fighting for. But as he considered this, a very empty notion crossed his mind.

"And then… what?"

This was something none of the three had an answer for immediately and for the first time since being freed, Eren's trepidation outweighed his hope.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Gritting her teeth against the wet and the cold, Janice brought herself as close to the tree nearest her as she could manage to keep the wind and rain from battering her too hard. Looking over, she saw Mikasa roping her horse to the tree nearest her; catching Janice's eye, she gave the shorter girl what was surely supposed to be a reassuring smile that did nothing to bring Janice any semblance of peace.

Levi had called the Scouts to break underneath a small grouping of wooded area which wasn't common in the area between the district they had left and the massive trees nearing the Shiganshina district, which was mostly plains and gentle sloping hills, not at all ideal for dealing with titans. This break was likely due for the group to collect their bearings since, as far as Janice could tell, they were simply barreling their way into the night, with no real destination or track to follow. If they were going to have to call the mission a failure and return before the storm lifted and morning arrived, it was all the better for Janice who would be able to use the cover of the storm to head off on her own accord.

 _Sorry Mikasa… I did try and bust out Eren, but I don't owe him any more than that. My chances at making any branch of the military are shot, and we have until daylight comes and our disguises are no longer…_

Her thinking trailed off as she saw Levi a dozen meters away handpicking a few soldiers and issuing orders. They took the information they were handed quickly and without a word before heading off in different respective directions, either on foot or on horseback. As she watched them go, Janice felt herself shake her head gently.

 _Maybe it's a good thing that I'm not going to make it into the military… I would only be able to make it so far to my goal before some superior officer with his head up his ass sends me to my death._

As she thought this, her eyes focused on Levi who was watching the Scouts he had ordered disappear on their own respective paths.

 _But maybe… I don't know, he seems so… at least, he seems well enough able to…_

Her brain struggled to land a fit on what she was trying to put together in words before she blinked sense back into her head and turned back to tending her horse.

 _Who the fuck am I kidding._

But the feeling persisted and she rested her head against the front thigh of her horse, closing her eyes. It had been so long since she had felt anything like this and she couldn't decide if she hated it or not. But regardless of what her thoughts were towards it, she couldn't let it interfere with what she was currently trying to accomplish.

 _There'll be time for that later, I can't let this distract me._

Heaving in a tight breath, she opened her eyes and moved to make her way over to Mikasa. The moment she had turned on her heel, however, a hand gripped her by the upper arm and dragged her away harshly and swiftly. Immediately, she fought against her sudden and unknown captor, moving to lift her legs up and pull them down before throwing an elbow into their throat. But before she could execute the move, a fist slammed into the small of her back and knocked the wind out of her while sending pain flashing throughout her torso. Gasping, she could do little more then try to keep herself from passing out as she was dragged from the wooded area where the Scouts had gathered to a small pond out of sight. She registered the countless rain drops shattering the smoothness of the pond's surface before the hand released her arm and took her by the hair, pulling her head back.

"FUCK!"

She shouted the word in pain as her heart pounded in her throat while oxygen continued to work its way back into her lungs. Then her eyes met those of the person who had pulled her away as lightning flashed above the both of them and the rushing adrenaline in her veins calmed itself. Pushing herself to her feet, she knocked his hand away and shook her wet hair from her eyes.

"Captain."

Just about as tall as her, Levi watched her carefully.

"You don't seem surprised that you were caught."

Knowing she couldn't give him any kind of mental leverage, she kept her tone as flat and uncaring as she could.

"Eh, it was only a matter of time."

Levi angled his head back towards their momentary camp where the chatter of the Scouts could be heard behind the pattering of rain against the trees, ground and water as well as the rumble of thunder.

"Who did you come with?"

"Hmm?"

As he turned back to her, she felt a rush of pleasure at the annoyance her nonchalance was surely provoking in him.

"You didn't break yourself out of your confinement and you certainly didn't slip into our ranks alone. Which of the cadets are you with?"

Despite the ease and apathy with which she could hand him Mikasa's name, Janice felt no immediate inclination to do so.

"What makes you think that it was a cadet? Maybe I enlisted the help of one of your Scouts?"

When he didn't reply, she wondered if he was actually mulling over the possibility. Seconds later, this was disproven.

"Every single man and woman that I chose to follow me on this have given me their undying loyalty, regardless of their skill level or ability. None of them would do anything that would put this mission at risk, or the lives of anyone here."

"I'm flattered you think I would have enough of an impact to affect the outcome of this, in any way."

During their whole conversation, Levi had slowly been edging around to move between Janice and where he had taken her from, as though he believed she was going to try and make a run for the encampment.

 _Why would you be doing that, captain?_

"I looked into your background. Suspiciously blank slate really, before you joined the military. High marks in most everything that doesn't directly involve teamwork. Skilled at utilizing ODM gear, some of the best scores in titan dummy training that have been recorded, but you simply couldn't seem to manage to function as a member of a group."

"Why does this hold relevance to me sneaking along on this mission?"

"It proves to me you've never been one to play by the rules and that you are someone who is going to work to achieve their own ends rather than the ends that benefit humanity, or to a lesser extent, your fellow soldiers."

As he spoke, Janice realized he was trying to make their conversation very personal, likely to try and spur her into doing something stupid, something that would allow him even the smallest warrant to execute her and eliminate her as a problem.

 _I don't bend easily, Levi, you'll have to do much better than that…_

"But you've lost people, no?"

As though he had read her mind, Levi's next words caused her to bristle in the near darkness.

 _How did you…_

"You were as much a part of that mess at Shiganshina as Yeager was, weren't you?"

Holding her flat tone, she didn't offer him any leeway that he could leverage against her.

"I was there, and I survived, that's all there was to… "

"You lost friends."

He said it as though it were a fact he had only just come up with and as though it were the most clear and unchallengeable point anyone could make. And as lightning flashed again, Janice saw the faces.

Her mind was a huge, dark cavern with a single light that glowed dimly and allowed her to function. It wasn't bright or sizeable, but it was strong, it was what let her do everything she had been able to do since that fateful day. At the ground level of the cavern was black water, under which swam the faces that Janice had done everything in her power to drown out; whenever they had risen up, she had shoved them back down, but here they floated with impossible buoyance on the surface, and she could not force them back. Levi had called to them and they had risen up as his allies.

 _No… you can't…_

The air seemed to be becoming thick and repressive, with her ribs clamping down on her lungs like cruel jaws.

"You cared about them, more than your family. You wanted to be able to rely on them, and for them to rely on you, forever. Whatever would come, it was always your plan to be with them."

"Shut up."

His low, cool voice was like a ragged saw pulling itself down her spine and she was aware of how weak those two words sounded as they left her mouth.

"But you lost them and now… you're here."

He hadn't advanced at her physically since they had begun talking, but he seemed to surround her wherever she turned her attention.

"I can't guess as to exactly why. Maybe you see yourself in Yeager and you want to protect him… "

"No, that's not… "

"… maybe you're just trying to get away from what will likely become a lifetime imprisoned… "

"You… you can't… "

She hated how suddenly he had turned the tables on her, she truly felt helpless.

"… or maybe you think that protecting him would be an homage to the friends you let die."

Janice wasn't aware of when exactly she started to break into a run towards him, all she knew was that he needed to stop talking, he needed to stop what he was doing, or the faces would rise from the waters and…

 _And what?_

By the time her thought had finished, she could feel the clothes on her back soaking through from the wet ground it lay upon. Levi stood above her, having driven her over after she had rushed him. His hand rested on the handle that was used to draw the blades that were strapped to his side and though she couldn't see his face even remotely well, she imagined he was giving her a look of derision as he spoke.

"Whatever your motives, it was a mistake to try and slip unnoticed into my unit. Humanity's most important moment may be nearing and I can't have someone like you, someone as BROKEN as you interfere with it."

Through the pounding in her chest and rush of blood in her ears, Janice could have sworn that gentle regret mingled in his words.

"Perhaps… perhaps this will be doing you a favor."

The sound of a blade being drawn snapped Janice back to reality and she felt a sudden knowing that she couldn't get out of this. Roll and evade him perhaps, but even if she was able to escape him, she had nowhere to go, and was without means of transport. She had meant to abandon the group when the chance arose, but this was hardly anything even close to what she had imagined.

 _Maybe he's right._

But as she waited for the blade to come swiping down and send her into oblivion, another flash rebounded over the trees and the water, and highlighted something that reflected the lightning heavily.

"I can't let you do that, captain."

Mikasa's tone was unmistakable and Janice could see her silhouette just a meter or so to Levi's left. Her blade had been drawn either prior to her arrival or in unison with the captain's, and it was now positioned across his throat. Levi's only reaction was to reply, through Janice was sure he was running through several scenarios in his head which would allow him to disarm Mikasa and kill them both.

"Ackerman. I had my suspicions. You were the one who opted to extract Janice from her confinement, then?"

As cold and flat as he, she replied not to his question, only to further her own point.

"I can't let you kill her."

"And why is that? Her testimony is very likely the thing that caused Yeager to be in his current situation, and you want to protect her?"

There was a pregnant pause in which Janice was sure Mikasa was questioning the truth of those words, but the blade didn't waver.

"None of that matters now."

Janice could tell Levi was looking at her as silence fell to the rattle of the rainfall before she twitched as the sound of metal against metal grated against her ears; she blinked in surprise as she realized that Levi had sheathed his own blade.

"Alright."

If Mikasa was equally surprised, she didn't show it, but stepped back as he turned to face her.

"I can't kill Robin because you are poised to do the same to me. And you can't kill me of your own volition as doing so permanently blocks your path to Yeager. I can tell we're at a bit of a stalemate."

As though a blade was currently being held on him, he turned to walk back towards his subordinates and their camp, but stopped after a short few paces.

"You can tag along as seems to be your prerogative. But when we find him… you can be damned sure we'll have us a reckoning."

And he was gone. After several seconds, Janice could hear him shouting orders as a dark shape appeared in her peripheral.

"Come on."

She realized the shape was Mikasa's hand and she took it; once on her feet, she shook her upper body, letting the mud that had collected on her back drop away. She looked towards the camp with Mikasa, and, well aware of how precarious their situation had become, looked to her companion.

"What now?"

She knew what Mikasa was going to say, but hearing it aloud still was a disappointment as the taller girl put away her blade and stalked back towards the camp.

"We keep going."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

As he lay resting on a cot stationed in a small room on the second floor of the beaten old building, Eren was surprised that he hadn't been awoken by the sound of the thunder that echoed a few times a minute. Rather, he had been roused by himself after what was likely only an hour of sleep.

Annie had instructed him to try and rest, stating that they would have time to talk once they had all had some time to recover from their escape. Eren had of course resisted, but Annie refused to talk and denied Reiner and Bertholdt the chance to answer any more of Eren's questions until her orders had been met. Angry and resentful, he had complied, storming upstairs and lying down; sleep had taken him almost immediately, but his body apparently wasn't having anything more than a short nap, as anxiety and curiosity kept his eyes wide open.

 _I have to know… I have to know._

He would get his answers when the others awoke, there would be no more putting it off; not even Annie could deny him this any further. Deciding that his time would be better spent keeping watch then lying on his back and fuming at the ceiling. He crept into the hallway, walking silently and slowly, not wanting to wake the other three he was sharing the building with. The unmistakable and sharp crack of a flare being fired close to them would be enough to act as a warning and would rouse them over the lightning, Annie had insisted, but Eren felt the need to do something, anything, and this would do.

Only down one set of stairs, however, he could hear voices, muffled and distant.

 _Figures._

With them hiding as much as he knew they were, this didn't surprise Eren in the slightest.

 _Still…_

He slowed his pacing exponentially to be sure that he wouldn't make a sound and minutes later, he found himself outside the closed door of what likely had once been an office room of some sort. Feeling a sudden rush of anticipation, he put his ear as close as he dared to the door.

"… assume that he won't just put his foot down. This Eren Yeager we're talking about."

"Then we'll just get as drastic as we need to, don't worry about that right now."

"We can't hide this forever, assuming the Scouts catch up to us, and they will… "

"We can't tell him Bert, he's fragile enough as is."

"It's true, do you really think he'd be of even more sound mind if he knew who really attacked his home all that time ago?"

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

 **AN: So this had been planned to be said at the end of last chapter, but with this chapter being several drafts in, I decided to hold off until it was finished; the story will be seeing a brief hiatus, emphasis on the word BRIEF. I can't say now exactly how long it will be, but this won't be anything close to the half-year/year long hiatuses that some stories see. The other story I currently have in progress is nearing its end, and at the moment, I'd like to finish it up as to not have both stories in the grinder together and suffer accordingly due to the split focus; as such, upon returning, the other story will be completed and I will be able to work more effectively and efficiently on this. So that being said, don't expect an immense wait, but there will be a short drought between this and chapter 24. Thanks so much to everyone who's been reading and enjoying thus far!**


	24. Chapter 24

"Who did?"

Eren felt very naked, and very energized as he suddenly found himself standing in the doorway, fully abandoning his hidden position for listening in. Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie all were looking at him, doubtful that they were in no small part looking surprised to see him. Reiner had half-risen from his chair, but now that he had, he looked unsure as to what his next movement would be. Eren took another step forward into the unlit room.

"Who attacked my district?"

He didn't raise his voice, but he didn't need to. However he had managed to do it, he didn't know, but he had managed to put an ultimatum in the question that was hidden behind his spoken words.

 _You tell me right now, or I'm not staying here with you another minute._

He was done being lied to, having them wave aside his questions as though they weren't important. He was on the brink of losing everything he had left because of something he had no way of understanding, and he was not about to die knowing nothing.

Annie's voice was as gentle as he had ever heard it.

"Eren… "

 _No, no, no, NO, NO, DON'T FUCKING TALK TO ME LIKE MIKASA, ACTING LIKE YOU'RE A PARENT TRYING TO BE PATIENT LIKE A FUCKING CHILD…_

Swelling, he opened his mouth to explode on them, fully prepared to threaten and curse them and do everything up to transforming in order to loosen their tongues, but Reiner followed in Annie's footsteps and spoke gently, though what he said shocked Eren into submission.

"No, Annie, he… has a right to know what we know."

He slowly lowered himself back into his seat and Eren wished he could see his face. Reiner's voice was amenable and calculated as though he were worried about pushing Eren past what was already a very short fuse on his temper.

"I know… we've talked in the past about where we were when the wall fell. That night with us, you and Armin?"

Eren nodded, but he wasn't sure he could be seen in the dark; Reiner pushed on anyway.

"When we found out about Annie after the attack, we… we knew that the Colossal and Armored types must be the same as her. Intelligent. Aware. People."

"Do you know who they are?"

Eren had turned to Annie now, who shifted slightly in her chair; she made no effort to verbally reply though and Reiner spoke for her.

I should clarify, Eren, that we don't know who they are. All we have is the knowledge that they are waiting near or at the first breach. For you."

His throat tightened as Reiner spoke these damnable words.

"How do you know that?"

Reiner's form straightened as he took a long deep inhale.

"We're guessing, but it only makes sense. The Armored titan came after Annie only weeks after Shiganshina fell… "

Turning to her again, Eren clenched his fist and moved sharply towards her, ignoring Bertholdt rising to move between them.

"You saw the Armored titan?!"

Annie gave a slow sigh, clearly having expected to be forced into telling this story.

"I've known about my ability to transform since before I can remember… living on my own made it so I was able to hide it, but… one day shortly after the wall fell, I moved towards the east, where farmers were being evacuated for contingency and staked out in an abandoned barn. To try and catch some errant cattle or deer or whatever the hell I could manage, I shifted. A half-hour later, I had what I needed, but… it was just there. Bearing down on me like a charging ox, and I couldn't manage anything other than running. No idea where it came from, if the person inside had been watching me, waiting to see what I would do… I don't know why it stopped chasing me, but whoever was in there… I guess, they had their reasons."

She surprised Eren even further then by standing in the dark and walking to only a short distance from him, pushing past Bertholdt as she did.

"They have to be after people like us. Breaking into districts and letting in titans to try and force shifters like us out into the open. Otherwise, why stop at just breaking the walls? They come in, kick the shit off and then watch. And now they know that there are two of us. Two shifters that they either want to capture or recruit or something else. They know we can plug the breach and by now, it's probably out that we're on the run. I'm sure the entire district we left behind is in a damn uproar that we got away. So it makes sense that they would predict we only have one place we can go."

The smiling titan flashed before Eren, eyes unblinking and gazing downward, his body pounding against Hannes' arm as the Garrison soldier rushed him away.

"Back to where they first appeared. The Scouts are pushing as that way anyway, we have nothing else we can try at this point. There would be enough places to hide there, enough to work with."

If Eren's mind hadn't been racing with so much else, he would have noticed the strangely challenging tone Annie's voice adopted then.

"And honestly, would you really not want a shot at them, now that you know you are what you are?"

He had no real answer. He had nothing he could say; the world seemed to be spinning as these possibilities rushed him, the idea that beyond just being psychopathic killers, these two shifters who had destroyed him hometown were playing some sick game to force him and Annie out into the open was enough to make the cold, damp quarters they were crammed in suddenly seem hot and stuffy. Before he could so much as meet Annie's eyes, Reiner gave a short grunt and made a violent gesture towards the window. His racing heart aside, Eren pulled up alongside the three of them to look out into dark, rainy night and saw the orange lights of torches bouncing along a good distance away. Reiner blew out a short sigh.

"I'd guess… two dozen? I don't know how many Smith would risk on a mission like this… I hope they just turn back, if they're still out by dawn… "

He trailed off and Eren turned to see the shadow of worry over his face; even as what was essentially a traitor, Reiner wasn't past wishing the goodwill of fellow soldiers. With a powerful slice of willpower, Eren forced aside the thoughts of returning to the wall and confronting those who had taken everything from him.

"Do we have some sort of plan?"

It didn't pass unnoticed that three pairs of eyes met him with what was likely a fair bit of surprise. Of course they hadn't assumed he would have been willing to let go of his questions, his fury, his burning desire to know everything, but in that moment, Eren knew that regardless of whether or not they were telling him the truth, they were currently his best bet for answers. The people wanted him dead and it was either that, take off on his own, or stick with three people he had spent years training with.

 _They're all I have now… even if I can't trust them._

And in that moment, he wanted to be able to more than anything.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Giving one last low curse to accompany her pain as an errant branch hidden in the black of the night cut at her leg, Janice reached the point where she was to hold position alongside Mikasa and leaned against the tree, lowering herself to sit. Mikasa looked over to her briefly, her dark silhouette emphasizing her movement.

"Are you alright?"

Janice grunted an affirmative. She couldn't see them, but as she looked around the looming shadow of the old building that supposedly housed their fugitives, she could sense the dozen or so other Scouts that had taken harbor in random nooks and crannies that nature had provided them, under or behind trees or dipped under hills and natural burrows. The decoy company that had been composed of nearly every single other Scout that had rode out under the cover of night had already blown long past and were likely nearing the point where they would extinguish their torches and would be forced to use their senses to ride their way back to the wall without alerting the occupants within the shelter.

Levi was among them currently forming the perimeter and Janice found herself desperately wishing she knew where he was located.

 _Why?_

It took her a moment to realize she was asking herself the question and she shook her head, focusing on the task at hand.

They would hold position for as long as was necessary, either until Yeager and Leonhart exited or until sunrise when their position would almost surely be compromised by the light of day. The Captain had made it very clear no one was to approach any further than their perimeter except on his command; the hope had been that the decoy squad would lure the two of them into a false sense of security which would cause them to try and leave while the night and storm were still holding strong, but so far, there was little activity.

"They really in there, you think?"

Rather akin to the question Janice had just asked herself, Mikasa sounded just as much like she was asking herself more than anyone else. Knowing the still consistent rainfall would still work to keep their conversation silent to anyone more than a couple meters away, Janice shifted her position to be able to stick her hands under her armpits to keep warm.

"If they aren't, we're about shit out of luck."

Mikasa didn't look over that time and Janice could tell that the taller girl's mind was racing frantically. Sighing, she put as much reassurance into her usual flat delivery as she could.

"Little bastard's sure that they are, and no matter what we think of him, he supposedly knows his shit, right?"

When she received no reply, she leaned over to land a soft punch on Mikasa's shoulder.

"Right?"

A sharp exhale and inhale informed her that her fellow cadet had been holding her breath.

"I guess… that's not what I'm worried about."

It didn't take a genius to figure out what she was talking about; the goal of the mission was simple and clear. They were there to put down the two shifters, regardless of what kind of resistance they encountered. These were the orders passed down, and it was the Survey Corps' duty to follow through and expunge what had been deemed a grave threat to humanity. And of course, Mikasa was now dealing with second thoughts, for now that she was among the Scouts, it was likely settling in that the only way to protect Eren was to directly defy orders, reveal herself as essentially nothing more than a traitor and likely turn her blade against her fellow soldiers.

"Levi said there would be a reckoning… why hasn't he come for us yet?"

Janice found that she had been wondering the same question since they had begun to move in. The Captain was sure that their targets rested within this beaten old building, so what in the world was he risking by having two insubordinate and dangerous cadets kept off a leash? At the very least, he ought to have sent them back with the decoy company with orders to arrest them when they returned to the wall.

"I wouldn't doubt that he doesn't have at least a couple of his more trusted lackeys on our backs… "

Even as she said these words, she felt a prickle on the back of her neck before the voice behind them even sounded.

"You got that right."

Janice saw Mikasa jump instinctively even as she reached for her own blade handle; Nanaba's cool tone seared through the rain once more as they both turned. They could see little more than a dark shape, but it appeared to Janice as though the Scout was propped in a very relaxed position, back against the hill they had come down over to take up positions.

"Relax. I don't know what the Captain has in mind for the both of you, but you can imagine that I was more than a little surprised to know that he wanted me to keep eyes on a couple stowaways."

She shifted slightly behind them.

"Two of the best graded cadets to boot."

Janice found she could only run her tongue harshly between her teeth; she could sense that Mikasa's mind was working quickly as well and as she tried to figure anything to try and at least lighten the tension, Nanaba did it for her by chuckling softly, a noise that blended almost pleasantly with the rain.

"I would recommend relaxing for now. If Levi wanted to do you ill, he would have by now. Just sit tight and we'll figure this out as soon as our current, larger issue is sorted."

Her voice was a great deal more soothing than Levi's ever could have been, but Janice wasn't fooled. If Levi had told Nanaba, he had likely informed others; no doubt she wasn't the only one watching them. Swallowing slowly, she readjusted and became still once more.

"Alright."

She felt more than saw Mikasa do the same. Because, as odd as it seemed, they were just as trapped as Eren and Annie were.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"Excuse me, Captain?"

Rico turned from her position, suddenly surprised by how stiff her shoulders were. She had been alternating from standing with her arms crossed to bringing them up to raise her binoculars. It occurred to her that she had no idea how long she had been standing there, waiting and praying to see the faint light of torches appear in the gloom that seemed to stretch forever.

The decoy squad had returned about twenty minutes prior which she had been informed of by a courier, but this didn't ease her tension in the slightest. That was the easy part, and waiting for what would come next was damn near torturous. What happened out there in the black would determine no small part of humanity's fate and what would come next.

That and…

"Is there… anything you can tell us?"

She looked over the cadet who stood before her, blonde hair soaked with rain, eyes wide in the lamplight with concern. The fact that Rico, who knew she wasn't exactly tall, looked down on him told her that this was a cadet small in will and stature. That said, she believed she recognized him from the previous day's events.

"Arlert, is it?"

He nodded and she looked past him. Several other cadets stood a distance back, looking unsure of whether they wanted to come forward, but looking about as desperate for information as Arlert's tone indicated.

"You are aware of the restrictions on passing vital mission information to lower rank soldiers, trainees and cadets, and civilians?"

Looking ready for this, his eyes glowed briefly with fight.

"I know that, I know that, I'm not asking for details, I just… "

Even in her worried, hardened state, it was difficult not to feel a rush of empathy for such a defeated looking person.

"I just want to know that there's a plan. That… this isn't just some head of district ordered suicide mission, that… "

Surprising herself, she reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Cadet, this probably won't make you feel much better, but there isn't a person on this wall who knows what Captain Levi's plan will be."

She gave him a grim, sad smile.

"No one up here knows anything, because there's nothing to go on. They rode out in a last-ditch pursuit and that's all we have."

Reading the look on his face, she surprised herself even further by following up with a very quiet admittance.

"There's someone I love very much out there in that dark right now. We're all scared, and we're all worried. But we have to keep it together."

Her attention was already slowly withdrawing from him and she turned to gaze back out into the rain and the night.

 _That's all we CAN fucking do._

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The morning was gray and misty, a dewy coating lining the grass and the ground as Janice blinked herself awake at Mikasa's nudging. She hadn't fallen asleep, but it dawned on her that, considering how little of the night she remembered, she must have been at least dozing. Her hands were numb and she began to rub them for warmth as she turned to Mikasa.

"Any changes?"

The taller girl's dark hair clung in damp streaks down her face and cheeks, the dark circles under her eyes doing nothing to alleviate the burning look in her orbs.

"Nothing."

Inhaling sharply, Janice began to suck in breaths as long and as deep as she could to keep from yawning. The only person she was able to spot was Nanaba who hadn't left her position in guarding them; the other Scouts were doing a tremendous job in maintaining camouflage. Janice remained sitting for several minutes before turning to the older woman.

"Our great and powerful Captain got a plan?"

Nanaba, who was laying on her back with her eyes closed momentarily, smiled.

"Levi always has a plan. It's why he is where he is, and it's why I, along with several others, are able to be standing here today."

Janice considered this.

"Just to be saved again by his brilliance?"

One eye opened to give her a glance.

"If that's what it takes."

Quiet returned as Janice looked forward, bored already with the conversation. Her desire to join the Corps had nothing to do with practically worshipping the higher ups in the regiment; she had already had enough of the high-handed talk of how glowingly important Levi and Erwin Smith were, and if this was all she was going to hear now, she didn't care to. It was only a couple minutes more before she heard a shift behind her and their watchdog spoke up again.

"So… I can gather pretty immediately what Ackerman wants out here… "

If Mikasa had so much as bristled, it was unnoticeable.

"… but I have to wonder Robin… what about you?"

 _Are you seriously trying to have a heart to heart right now about motives?_

"I saw the trial. I know what your feelings were about him… at least the ones you showed off. But you're still out here… what's up with that?"

Janice grit her teeth; this woman really knew how to start digging and get under her skin quickly.

"All I'm saying is that if you have any… "

The following thunderclap that shook Janice's entire frame while practically blinding and deafening her at the same time shouldn't have been possible considering that the storm had abated before the dawn had even begun to shine. She was thrown backwards and felt a strange pain in her midsection as she struck the wall next to Nanaba; the Scout had already adopted a defensive posture and was in the process of drawing her blades as Janice looked forward, trying to regain her senses.

The right side of the abandoned building had been all but pulverized as a fifteen-meter class titan exploded from within, sending debris, rock, wood and glass everywhere. Janice could hear Nanaba shouting something that came across as nothing more than muffled before the titan rushed from the broken house and broke into a run, heading straight for them.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

 **AN: After much longer of a break than I wanted… finally back.**


	25. Chapter 25

Levi had the chance to shout out a single order before the female titan's foot slammed the ground where he had been a moment before, kicking up dirt and grass; using a tree nearby to grapple, he whipped himself around the far side of it, cursing his immediate predicament.

"CAPTAIN!"

Another loud thud and scream echoed as Levi glanced to his right to note Nanaba pulling up next to him, skidding in the dirt to be slow herself as they both looked to see a Scout, missing both his legs below the knees, being tossed through the air. The moment he hit the ground and ceased his wailing, three others had tagged the titan up and down her body with their grapples and pulled themselves in tight patterns, looking for an opening.

"ORDERS, CAPTAIN!"

He ignored her a moment longer to watch the endeavor of his underlings; vaguely aware of the remaining Corps members pulling back to a respectable distance to wait for orders, he observed one of the three gung-ho Scouts pull the female titan's attention just long enough to allow one of his compatriots to sweep against her neck. He even had the gall to give a shout of triumph, but as he completed his pass to appear over her other shoulder, even from that distance Levi could see his blade were not but metal stubs protruding from the handles. Moving as swiftly as any titan he had ever seen, the female titan whipped around and grabbed the Scout out of midair, crushing him just as quickly. And as she did, he could see the glaze of bright blue that now coated the titan's neck and he knew immediately what had happened.

"PULL BACK! TAKE A SAFE DISTANCE AND SPACE OUT!"

As he roared these orders, his flare had already gone up and he was on the move. This was going to be something he was going to half to deal with step by step, there was no killing something like this immediately. Then, he noticed something else. The female titan had her left hand cupped around her neck as if she was…

 _As if she was protecting something._

He was barely able to rocket backwards far enough in time to avoid being crushed as the female titan dashed forward, feet digging into the ground as she raced away westward.

"HORSES!"

Those very animals had been tied up several hundred yards away in the case they had been noisy in the night and early morning, thus giving away the Scouts' position. This now of course acted a painful issue as, while it took them only seconds to reach the horses and mount, but those couple seconds allowed them to now see the back of the female titan pushing further and further away. Levi spurred his horse violently as she began to turn her pace slightly towards the wall, hand still clutching against her neck. With the rest of the Survey Corps elite behind him, hooves pounding against the wet earth as they rode off in intense pursuit. The stormy night no longer impeded their view; titans may be up and moving, but now they had a clear target and she was in their sight. But there was never any poking away the feeling that something was off about resuming this chase, and Levi felt it digging against the back of his mind as they left the wrecked shack behind.

If he had even acted on this feeling in the slightest, he would have been able to ride back to the destroyed wood frame to see two horses that had been hidden away in the basement, riding away in the opposite direction. And perhaps too, he would have seen two more horses, with green clad riders, head after them.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Rico's breathing pounded in and out of her with great force as she reached the top of the wall, having been summoned by a lower ranking Garrison soldier. She had been finally laying down for some much needed rest after spending the entire night, soaking and waiting for any sign of Levi's entourage before she had been overridden in her protests to remain on watch by none other than Commander Pixis himself who was overseeing essentially all the overwatch efforts. And so after changing out of her soggy uniform and trying to keep her heart from racing too badly, she had laid down and closed her eyes before a younger man who couldn't have been in the Garrison for more than a year, burst in, eyes wide.

Now she had made her way up the stairs and was surprised to see roughly a hundred soldiers, mostly a sea of brown uniforms with occasional dots of green throughout. She knew then that something had most assuredly happened and pushed her way aggressively through what was essentially a frightened mob to finally bump into Pixis who was at the forefront, binoculars pressed to his weathered eyes.

"Commander."

He took them away briefly to regard her with regretful eyes.

"Right after I ordered you to take leave… I'm sorry for that, Captain."

Whatever tiredness she had been fighting against was now noticeably absent.

"No matter, sir. What's happened?"

Looking back out over the grey misty morning sky, he pointed and Rico saw what remained of a purple flare trail dissipating by the second. Her heart caught in her throat.

"They've resumed the pursuit."

"That remains the half of it."

He handed her the binoculars and as he did, Rico could have sworn she heard what sounded like a distant crunching over the nervous chattering of the hundred or so gathered around her, but it was as irrelevant as anything. She raised them to her eyes and looked in the direction he indicated. There, as nothing more than dots, were several dark green shapes streaking left across the horizon with a larger pale shape several hundred yards ahead. The tiredness that had vanished from her body was then furiously replaced with fear.

 _Nanaba…_

The crunching sounded once more.

"Their targets seem to have started working their way back the way they came… we can't figure why, but we have a visual now at least for the time being."

Rico's fingers gripped white against the binoculars and she wet her mouth.

"Can we not provide them with anything?"

She couldn't keep the indignation out of her voice and she looked around to see Pixis looking at her once more, eyes now just as resigned as regretful. Pointing angrily with a shaking finger, Rico cast her gaze around before locking eyes on her superior.

"It's no longer night, we know where the enemy is, and they're CLOSE. Why can't we provide them with backup?"

He looked as though he had been expecting this, as his voice slowed in pace to match the tone of a parent explaining something gently to a frustrated child.

"We've considered this… Commander Erwin, who is still in the district, has been informed and he along with some handpicked members of the Survey Corps are on their way… "

Rico's finger jabbed furiously.

"They're there NOW! We need to back them up NOW!"

The crunching again and Rico's ear twitched irritably; would whoever was making that sound cut it the fuck out?

"Captain, you know as well as I that there are at least two intelligent titans being pursued, regardless of whether only one has shifted its form. They are dangerous, they are powerful and they are ready for just about anything we can throw at them. Those elite of the Scouts are the only ones that stand a chance."

She opened her mouth to argue further, but he continued over her.

"What do you think would happen if I let you take a squad down there and try to provide aid? You're a fine titan slayer, Captain, but would you really be bringing anything more than targets on horseback if you went down there with a squad?"

Cruel words indeed and she could see the resentment of the Garrison members around who had heard Pixis's statement, speaking such ill of his own branch. He ignored the antagonism that was being silently directed his way and reached out to take her shoulder, a strangely personal move for him.

"We have to wait."

She stared back at him as the crunching echoed again and this time it seemed others were hearing it as heads turned to look around in confusion. Pixis kept his gaze on her and Rico found she couldn't deter his fatherly aura; turning her head down, she nodded.

"Understood, sir."

Nodding back, he gently pried the binoculars from her grip and they both turned to redirect their attention to the distant chase.

The shadow that passed over them then was sudden and altogether completely stunning. It was a face, there was no doubt of that, at least the size of a large titan, but it was unlike one Rico had ever seen before. Dark brown hair covered its head, save for its face, which held a beastly presence, its wide mouth smiling practically from ear to ear. She had only a chance to gaze into its beady, intelligent eyes before two great hands rose up over the wall on either side of it, bringing themselves down with impossible speed.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Levi had placed about a dozen cuts into the female titan's ligaments and tendons before he figured this was far too easy. He hadn't been privy to a great deal of knowledge on how exactly a titan such as this would operate when controlled by a human mind, but as he was able to land hit after hit against her with little to no resistance, that damned feeling that told him something was wrong surged ever stronger. She was allowing him to take her down and while Levi was well aware of his own speed and abilities, she should have at least tried to take a swing at him at some point. But as it stood, the faster he could bring her down, the faster he would have time to deduce what…

"CAPTAIN, WATCH OUT!"

And there it was. Stopping dead in her tracks, the female titan braked and turned at the same time, the bottom of her foot shooting in the direction of Levi. Unfortunately for her efforts, that was exactly what he had been waiting for. Curling his body into a weapon, he whirled into action, moving over her foot and zipping his way around her entire frame, digging his blades into her ankles, biceps and eyes. It was mere seconds before the female titan, rendered helpless crashed to the ground, though as Levi noted, her hand was still cupped to her throat and as he touched down on the back of her neck, he noticed that her fingers had crystallized to her body.

"Not even going to bother trying to protect yourself at this point?"

It was odd certainly that she was opting to harden her hand over what she was carrying and leaving her neck wide open, and as Levi sliced swiftly into the flesh before she had time to change her mind, it was clear that had indeed been her intention. Several Scouts landed around him, blades directed at the nape he had just sliced into where the back of who had been controlling the titan rested. As steam billowed around them, Levi nodded forward.

"Take them."

Happy to oblige, their eyes furious at the loss of their comrades, the surrounding Scouts dug further into the skin and muscle, cutting away until they were able to pull the titan's operator free. Levi snorted gently.

"Leonhart."

Unlike Yeager's report, she had retained consciousness and she glared up at him with hateful eyes. He felt a small dip of pleasure as he slammed his boot against her nose, sending a spray of blood to mix with the steam. Her eyes clenched shut as she doubled over in the Scouts' arms and he crouched next to her.

"An odd choice, surely to work your way back towards the wall. Maybe you're not as smart as we gave you credit for."

As he spoke, one of the Scouts who had gone to investigate her cupped hand shouted to him.

"Captain! You should come see this!"

Giving his head a jerk, indicating to his men to bind the cadet and throw her over a horse, he hopped off the corpse and walked to where a dozen of his men now surrounded the front of the body's throat. Nanaba's face was pale as she fell into stride beside him, having rushed over.

"Sir, I don't… I don't know what… "

Her nervous expression and rambling practically told him the whole story before he even fixed eyes on what everyone was staring at. Anger had not been a strong part of Levi's getup for a long while, but then as he looked unblinkingly at what the female titan had been protecting, that particular emotion began to surge in his gut.

"I want every single person here to mount up and… "

Before his order even completed pulling from his lips, there came a distant boom just as a piece of debris, roughly the size of four horses slammed into the ground just beside him, sending two of his men flying and crushing a third outright. Spinning at the direction it had come from, hands gripping his blades tightly, Levi looked to the wall to see a massive brown shape crouched at the top of his, impossibly long arms above its head. Even from that distance, he could hear it roaring. Moments later, one of the distant arms whipped across its body, and another resounding boom accompanied another piece of the wall blowing apart a piece of the female titan's body and sending two more Scouts flying like leaves in a harsh wind. Gritting his teeth, Levi slid to over against the corpse's side and the remaining soldiers rallied to his side.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Another titan… it was another fucking titan… "

"What's the world come to… what's even happening anymore?"

Levi's mind raced as his Scouts rambled in a panic; next to him, Nanaba's voice was much lower, but the undercurrent of worry was impossible to miss.

"What do we do, sir?"

A damn good question. Leonhart was in custody, but now they knew what the ploy had been the whole time and another titan, unlike anything Levi had seen before, was wreaking fresh hell against humanity. What to do indeed.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"REINER, WE CAN'T JUST LEAVE HER TO DIE!

"SHE MADE THE CHOICE! THEY WON'T KILL HER, BERT, JUST LISTEN TO ME!"

"I CAN'T DO THIS! NOT AFTER… NOT AFTER WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE! THIS ISN'T WORTH IT!"

"THIS IS EVERYTHING! THIS IS WHAT WE'VE FOUGHT FOR, EVERYTHING WE'VE DONE HAS BEEN FOR THIS!"

"WE CAN'T LEAVE HER!"

Eren, currently saddled behind Reiner, was listening to his rider and Bertholdt scream at each other as they rode furiously in the opposite direction of where Annie had taken away the attention of the Scouts. As they both continued to roar incessantly, Eren was fighting to combat his own roaring that was taking place between his ears. What they had said, what he had heard…

"RIGHT, EREN!?"

He looked up to see Reiner staring at him with wild eyes. Nodding blankly, he turned his gaze back down as Reiner turned back to his shouted argument with his friend. Reiner and Bertholdt… two rocks in the 104th, who had done so much for everyone, as friends, as fellow soldiers, as allies. And here now, as Eren sat with them, he had never felt more disassociated from two people.

 _I… I know the truth. Maybe not all of it, but I know…_

The idea that occurred to him then was insane, and completely full of risk and he straightened swiftly as his heart rate doubled. Was that really his best option?

 _Maybe not… but as of now, it's my only option._

Reaching, he grabbed Reiner's arm, interrupting something the blonde had been shouting. Wind whipping past them, he looked back to Eren, that same vividly pained expression on his face.

"WHAT?!"

Eren chose his words carefully, a rarity for one such as him.

"Reiner… everything you've said… you're knowing that Annie was a titan, what those who attacked my home are after… those were some real conclusions you guys had jumped to."

The facial expression Reiner gave him then told him half of what he needed to know.

"I get you may have had a lot of time to think about it… and I know that you're a loyal person… "

 _It's now or never._

He brought his hand up to his mouth.

"Which is why I know… "

The dawn of recognition sprouted over Reiner's face and Bertholdt shouted something as Eren's fury broke. For everything, the lies, the betrayals by everyone he knew, the pain of being alone, and the knowledge that it was likely to stay that way if his hunch was on point. Hatred consumed him.

"… YOU'RE FUCKING LIARS!"

Blood on his hand glowed a sickly red just before yellow lightning boomed from the sky, loud and earth-shaking. And as Eren felt himself wrapped in what was becoming a familiar shape, and he felt the world briefly disappear around him, he knew that he had been right as a shape out of his nightmares loomed before him.

And strangely, he found himself insanely happy.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Janice grit her teeth as lightning flashed ahead of her and Mikasa, only about a kilometer ahead of them, over a gentle hill. Swearing, she spurred her horse alongside her fellow cadet.

"Why would he shift now?"

The raven-haired girl stared forward, knuckles white on her reins.

"I don't know."

Janice shook her head at the madness of their own plan even as she followed through with it.

"But I guess we're about to find out."


End file.
